Locks
by Albertasteinthe21st.genius
Summary: Starts a month or so after Sabo 'dies'. Girl lands in the D brother's life. Mild chaos ensues.
1. Chapter 1

Ace's head jerked up, hand shading his eyes as a bright streak of light flew over, and then he heard an almighty crash from the forest somewhere ahead of him. He tightened his grip on his pipe, eyes narrow, and headed towards the sound whilst dragging the dead crocodile behind him.

He found a winged white lizard. He looked at the crocodile, then back at the injured beast struggling to its feet. He knew the crocodile was edible, so . . . why not? A ghost of a voice started to give him a dozen reasons, but he shrugged it off. Sabo was dead. He wasn't coming back, so who cared what he would have thought. Ace didn't notice the lone tear trailing down his cheek.

The creature finally got its footing, front paw held off the ground while blood poured from the wound. Good. Injured animals couldn't fight back as effectively, even if they were more ferocious. Ace dropped the crocodile, both hands gripping his pipe in preparation. Slowly, the creature turned to look at him. He froze under the scrutiny of those unnatural rainbow eyes. The feeling passed as quickly as it came and he prepared to attack. The beast made a noise of distress, trying to back away, but tripping instead and knocked its injured leg against a tree, yelping pitifully in pain and fear, the sound making him wince slightly in empathy.

But Ace steeled himself. While oddly beautiful, the creature was as much his prey as the crocodile had been. He leapt towards the dragon-

A light enveloped its form, and his pipe thudded into the ground inches from a girl's leg. He stared in shock for a moment, but before he could make a sound, the girl leaped up with a shriek and began to sprint away. It took him a second to gather his wits, but then he started off after her.

"Wait!" He called. She didn't even slow down, instead opting to go faster. Ace was starting to find it hard to keep up.

"Wait!" He called again, but again she went faster, feet pounding against the ground metres ahead of him as she leapt over tree roots and through gaps in the vines with a grace Ace did not possess. He tripped, landing forcefully on his front. He got up as quick as he could, but there was no longer any sign of the girl.

"Dammit." He said, spitting out dirt. It was then that he noticed that it was getting dark.

"Shit." He raced back the way he had come. Luffy would be wondering where he was, and he didn't want to worry the rubber boy. Especially after-

He shook his head of those thoughts. It had been a month. Luffy might still be upset, but it was time that Ace himself got over it. Someone had to take care of Luffy, and it sure as hell wasn't going to be _Garp_.

The dead crocodile was where he'd left it, next to a shallow depression in the ground filled with crushed vegetation. The lizard/girl/person-thing must have hit the ground quite hard. He felt a twinge of guilt for some reason, but it wasn't _his_ fault that she/it fell out of the sky. He still felt sorry for her though . . .

 **oOo**

Locks peered out from behind the tree, watching as the hunter ran back the way they'd come. She let out a sigh of relief, and then winced as another pulse of pain shot through her. Her whole body ached, come to think of it. And she was so hungry . . .

It's not exactly the best idea to go running through the forest when you are in the state Locks was in. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

This was the third time this week. Ace stealthily crept out of the treehouse after his little brother, wondering what the rubber boy was up to in the pre-dawn darkness.

 **oOo**

Ace stayed hidden from Luffy's sight, listening in rapt attention to Luffy as his little brother told tales of Sabo to the skinny girl sitting on top of a boulder. Her legs were drawn up to her chest, and she watched Luffy warily. Whether she understood a word Luffy was saying was debateable. But she at least seemed to be able to read the younger boy's body language, growling at the bad things and silent at the good.

Ace had avoided talking about their brother, but here Luffy was telling this random girl everything. Ace was content to listen, watching his brother wave his arms about excitedly as he described how Sabo had once saved him from being eaten by a crocodile, an all too frequent occurrence in Ace's opinion. As well as watching and listening to his little brother, Ace kept an eye on the girl in case of hostility. So far, all she'd done is stare at Luffy intensely, as if trying to bore a hole through his skull. The boy didn't seem disconcerted by this at all, continuing in his increasingly far-fetched tale. Far-fetched, that is, if it wasn't for the fact that this was Luffy he was thinking about. Incorrigible ball of trouble. Ace wasn't really sure what incorrigible really meant, but he'd heard Sabo call Luffy that a number of times.

Sabo . . . why? Why did you have to go?

 **oOo**

Eventually Luffy ran out of steam, his stomach grumbling loudly.

"Gotta go!" the rubber boy called cheerfully over his shoulder as he headed back to the treehouse.

Ace crouched in the shadows as he passed by, oblivious. Then he walked into the clearing, eyes fixed on the thin girl who still sat perched on her boulder.

"Are you okay?" he asked bluntly, remembering the dent she'd left in the ground. However, he had forgotten how that first meeting had turned out. Her eyes landed on him, and began to widen in fear. Her face went pale. With a shriek, she leapt down on the other side of the boulder and started running. Ace gave chase.

She led him up and down small hills, around small trees and over the rockiest ground he had ever encountered. Or maybe that was his imagination. Was it also his imagination, or was she slower than she was a couple of weeks ago? He saw her stumble, catching herself just in time to avoid smashing into a tree. She didn't really look like she was cut out for a chase. She stumbled again, and he wondered what on earth possessed him to run after someone who probably hated his guts right now anyway.

She stumbled for a third time, and this time she couldn't save herself. She tumbled forward, sprawling on the ground. He caught up to her as she struggled to lift herself off the ground, wincing as she whimpered in pain. Her arm looked pretty bad. Ace vaguely recalled that she had been injured before she changed from that lizard . . . dragon thing. He was pretty sure she was some kind of dragon. Not that he'd ever seen one before, but Sabo was always telling them stories . . .

He stood over her panting as she flipped herself on her back to stare at him with wide, fear-filled eyes. She gave a high-pitched whine as she jolted her injured arm. By injured, Ace meant that it was the only place she was bleeding. She was technically injured all over, covered in bruises.

"I'm . . . not going . . . to hurt you." He said, words punctuated by gasps for air. She responded by scrabbling backwards, teeth drawn back in a snarl as she hissed at him like some kind of animal. Ace ran a hand through his raven black hair. What was he thinking?


	3. Chapter 3

The girl now slept peacefully curled up in a corner of the treehouse, huddled under a couple of blankets the boys had spared her. She had yet to say a word, and Ace had only succeeded in bringing her back because she fainted.

 **oOo**

2 hours earlier . . .

But as soon as she'd woken up from her faint, oh, _then_ there was trouble. Biting and scratching and kicking and electrocuting and shrieking so loud their ears were still ringing. Yes, electrocuting. The girl seemed able to generate lightning out of thin air.

Ace, thinking she'd had some kind of devil fruit, had dumped her in the stream, clothes and all. This had just enraged her further, and the boys soon discovered that water was an _excellent_ conductor for electricity, as well as making the girl very slippery. It was like trying to clean a cross between an electric eel and a tiger. Unfortunately (thanks to a certain devil fruit eating boy) Ace had experience with both, making him well qualified for the task. Sort of. Not really.

It had been a mighty battle. She appeared to be half Ace's size (he didn't really pay attention), but she more than made up for this with her ferocity. She could breathe fire too. Now _that_ had been an interesting discovery. Finally, however, she was clean, with a very wet singed Ace to show for it. Now came the _fun_ part, bandaging her arm. Why Ace was bothering himself to go to all this trouble for a stranger was beyond him.

 **oOo**

An hour after that . . .

"Get back here!"

"Ace won't hurt you!" Luffy yelled. His arms had been stretched longer than ever around the clearing and tied into knots by Ace, creating a make-shift pen in which the infuriated boy was chasing the girl around like a wild goose. She kept bouncing off Luffy's arms, changing direction about every ten seconds

They'd backed off and let her get out of the water, and Ace had used the time it took for her to dry off to use Luffy as a bouncy harmless rope. Ten minutes ago, the running had started. For some inexplicable reason, the girl who kept fainting from exhaustion was outrunning a fit and furious Ace, who wanted nothing more than for her to just sit still and let him help her, dammit!

Why did he care anyway?! This was more Sabo's thing!

Ace found himself knocked backwards unexpectedly as the girl bounced off Luffy and thudded into him. Their heads collided sharply, but Ace ignored the pain. He wrapped his arms around her tight, ignoring her struggles. Now that he had caught her, how did he get her to stay still? She solved that problem by fainting. Again.

 **oOo**

Present time . . .

Ace watched the girl sleep; feeling very satisfied with himself though his arms were covered in scratches and his hair was singed. He also had a growing lump on his forehead, but that was Luffy's fault.

They'd managed to calm her down with food and talk. Considering where he lived and who he lived with, Ace was surprised he hadn't thought of it himself. but Luffy, being Luffy, had gone running off for meat. Then, the rubber boy had sat down in front of the glaring girl and started talking about Sabo in soft tones. As soon as she heard Sabo's name, she'd stilled, though Ace wasn't sure why. She reacted the same as she had on the boulder, growling at the fights and silent at the smiles. Luffy had held out the meat the whole time.

Ace had been surprised when she suddenly sat down, dragging him down too. She was heavier than she looked and had ended up sitting in his lap, a space usually reserved for Luffy. She had taken the meat with her good hand, nibbling at it while turning to stare at Ace's face.

"Tell her a story" Luffy had said.

So Ace had told her a story from when it had been just him and Sabo, before Luffy had turned life upside down. Her eyes widened slightly in recognition each time he said Sabo's name.

Having been fed, and apparently fond of other people's voices, she had quietly let Ace bandage her injury. She never flinched once. Then Ace had carried her up into the treehouse, Luffy chattering all the way, and she'd fallen asleep. She looked peaceful now, but the occasional involuntary twitch of his fingers reminded him that she was even wilder than people believed Ace himself to be. What on earth had he gotten himself into? And why?


	4. Chapter 4

Ace watched the girl nibbling at her meat, slapping at Luffy's grabbing hands. She'd been here a few days now, and had been docile ever since what he now dubbed 'The Cleaning Incident'. Ace was waiting for a sign that this acquiescence was going to end. It didn't seem natural after all the trouble she'd initially gave him.

She snatched her meat out of Luffy's hand, and continued her slow nibbling as the rubber boy pouted. That was another thing Ace was worried about, that she wasn't eating enough. She had gotten marginally thinner even though they gave her enough food for a normal person. Then again, she had been a flying lizard when he first saw her, though she hadn't changed back into the dragon since. Maybe they weren't feeding her the right food? But he was pretty sure that dragons were carnivorous, so that couldn't be it.

But Ace figured it was about time some things were straightened out. Whatever had possessed him to help her in the first place, he still wasn't going to let her laze around doing nothing all day. He and Luffy hunted and sparred, but she didn't look strong enough to do that. Eh, she could figure out what to do on her own. He just had to make her aware that the free ride was over. She was a girl; maybe she'd spontaneously start cleaning or something. The treehouse was a mess after all, dirty clothes scattered everywhere. Neither Ace nor Luffy had done much tidying since Sabo . . . died. First, however, they needed something to call her.

 **oOo**

"Name." Luffy said.

"Name." she repeated placidly back.

"No, what _is_ your name." Ace said, getting increasingly frustrated.

"Name?" she said questioningly, turning to the older boy. Maybe they should introduce themselves first. With any luck, she'd get it then. Or just repeat it like a parrot. Ace sighed, pointing to his brother.

 **oOo**

"Luffy." The hunter said in his strange lilting language. Locks followed his movements, seeing that he was pointing at the mini-hunter.

"Luffy." The hunter said again, still pointing.

"Luffy." Locks repeated, not getting what he wanted, but having noticed that repeating words usually earned approval. The mini-hunter grinned, pointing at himself and nodding.

"Luffy!" he said happily. Locks nodded back, saying "Luffy" as well. Locks wished she knew what she was saying.

The hunter then pointed at himself and said "Ace."

Locks tilted her head to one side. Then she pointed at the hunter and said "Ace." With a blink, she realised what 'Luffy' meant. She pointed first at the mini-hunter, then at the Alpha.

"Luffy. Ace." She said. The words were names. Seeing the relief on the face of the hunter, she felt proud of herself. Now, she knew what they wanted.

 **oOo**

The girl, having presumably figured out what they were asking, pointed to herself and growled. Well, it wasn't really a growl. But either way, they didn't understand.

Ace slapped himself on the forehead. He'd assumed that the girl just didn't know how to speak, but now he realised that she spoke a completely different language. Wonderful.

The girl made the noise again, a growl-bark-hiss. Luffy tried to copy her, earning himself a strange look. The girl shook her head, and then made the noise. It sounded like _Rrrrocksss_.

Ace made a guess. "Rocks?" he said questioningly. The girl frowned at him before repeating the noise again, drawing out the growl for longer.

 **oOo**

Much to Ace's chagrin, Luffy was the one who figured it out.

"Locks!" the rubber boy cheered. The girl whipped her head around to stare at him, before nodding. " _Rrrrocksss_ " she said, smiling.


	5. Chapter 5

Dogra watched warily as Ace approached the hideout. His eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Hey, Boss! Come look at this!"

 **oOo**

Dadan eyed the pair warily. Ace just stared back at her, smirking at her discomfort. The girl looked blankly at both of them.

"What do you want?" Dadan asked.

Ace pushed the girl forward a little. "This is Locks. She's good at laundry and cleaning. All you have to do is feed her. Sound good?" he said, something in his voice telling Dadan that her answer had better be yes.

"Why?" she asked the boy, wondering what he really wanted. He smiled blandly, eyes mischievous.

"Well, when we were staying here you always wanted us to do chores . . ." he pushed 'Locks' forward a little more. ". . . So, we thought maybe you'd like something to make up for all the times we didn't."

Dadan really didn't like the look on his face. He looked too smug.

Then Ace said "Be good" to the girl, racing off before Dadan could reply, looking quite pleased with himself as he did so.

"Come back!" Dadan yelled, but of course he ignored her.

 **oOo**

Ace climbed back up into the nice clean treehouse, laughing all the way. Messing with Dadan never got old. He looked around the space, pleased with what he saw.

The day before, he and Luffy had come back to find the place immaculate and all the laundry folded into neat piles by the dragon. The dragon herself was curled up in the middle, scales gleaming, injured leg stretched out in front of her. Luffy had promptly tripped over it and nearly gotten his head bitten off, literally. But that wasn't the point. Looking around at all the clean surfaces, an idea had formed in his mind. That was why he'd packed Locks off to Dadan's for the day.

Ace wished he could be there to see the look on Dadan's face.

 **oOo**

Dadan walked into the room and stopped dead. All the piles of filthy clothes were gone, replaced by neat piles of cleanliness. She rubbed her eyes, but nothing changed. In one hour, the girl Ace had brought had cleaned a months' worth of clothes. _Scary . . ._ thought Dadan. She looked at Locks with apprehension, finding the girl sitting on the floor with a placid expression. Dadan slowly backed away. Ace had said something about feeding her, right?

It continued like that all day, Dadan setting the girl a task and finding it done in record time. Using one hand, no less. The hideout had never been cleaner, and Dadan had never been more scared of a child in her life. Except for Ace. Ace was a freaky little brat. Speaking of which . . . With trepidation, Dadan peered down the track, wishing fervently that the boy would come back _right now_ , something that the orange-head never thought she'd be wishing for.

But Ace didn't show.

 **oOo**

It was getting dark, and Ace felt like he was forgetting something. But Luffy was here, safe and sound and making many attempts to steal Ace's meat. He slapped away a rubbery appendage for what felt like the hundredth time.

 **oOo**

None of the bandits slept that night, too nervous to do so while Locks was around, especially when they didn't know where she was. Who knew where she might pop out from!

 **oOo**

Ace woke up to find Luffy's arms had wrapped around him four times, trapping one of Ace's arms to his side. Ace yawned, peering at the roof sleepily. Then his eyes widened comically.

"Shit! I forgot Locks!"

Luffy just murmured blearily in his sleep as Ace struggled to free himself.

 **oOo**

"He's coming! He's coming!"

"Oh thank goodness . . ."

"Never thought I'd be glad to see the little terror. . ."

 **oOo**

Ace had never seen the bandits so excited to see _him_ of all people, but here they were, hugging him and crying tears of joy. Ace was not a hugger, and he was getting increasingly creeped out by the attention. Beside him, Luffy beamed at them all.

Ace had also never seen the bandits look this exhausted since the fight with Bluejam. He smiled at his success.

"Hey, Locks, you in there?" he called, grinning as all the bandits flinched. The girl emerged, smiling slightly when she caught sight of him. She was followed by a wide-eyed Dadan.

"Take her!" the woman(?) exclaimed, eyes darting around wildly, "Don't ever bring her back!"

"Isn't that rude? Ace said with a smirk.

"LOCKS!" Luffy yelled. "Guess what?"

Ace pulled the younger children along, ignoring his brother's chattering as he called over his shoulder.

"See you Dadan!"

The bandit chief shuddered and scuttled inside her hideout. Ace laughed.


	6. Chapter 6

When Locks landed from one of her daily flights placidly reporting that a "seagull ship" was approaching the island, Ace grabbed Luffy and ran, giving the dragon girl instructions to "stay out of the crazy old man's sight". The next week was hell for the two boys.

 **oOo**

 **oOo Day 1**

"Luffy!" Ace called, rubbing a bump on his head. Where could that rubber idiot have got to? Stupid Garp. How dare that man hurt his brother! Ace seethed, thinking of all the ways he was going to get back at the man for his child abuse (when he was older, bigger, and stronger than the crazy old man, of course). He winced. Fists of Love really _hurt_. Stupid Gramps. Ace remembered why he was wandering around the island in the first place.

"Luffy! Where are you?!" he called.

 **oOo**

Luffy scowled down at the wolves from his perch atop a tree, rubbing his head where the Fist of Love had hit him. Stupid Gramps. How was this training? He wished Ace was here . . . Ace would beat up the wolves for sure! Ace was awesome! Luffy grinned.

"Ace is gonna kick your ass!" he shouted down. The wolves growled in reply.

 **oOo**

 **oOo Day 2**

Ace ran for his life, chased by his crazy grandfather.

"Get back here brat! We have training to do!"

"Aaaah!" Ace screamed. Unbeknownst to either, they were being watched by a perplexed young dragon.

 **oOo**

Luffy was bored. So bored that he fell asleep, an action that led directly to him falling out of his tree and bouncing off the alpha wolf's head.

"Aaaah!" Little Luffy screamed, running from the big bad wolves. Unfortunately for Luffy, he was headed for the monkey kingdom.

 **oOo**

 **oOo Day 3**

Ace rapidly climbed the cliff, desperate to escape Garp. He scrambled over the top edge and kept running. Garp just punched the cliff, causing it to collapse into a steep slope for him to chase his grandson up. What in the Blues was Gold Roger thinking, leaving his son with this crazy man? Up and up Garp went, chasing the hapless Ace ever onwards.

 **oOo**

"Aaaah!" Luffy screamed, coming face to face with the monkey king.

"Ooh-aaah-ah!" screamed the monkey king, preparing to pound the intruder.

Luffy ran for his life. But he was soon cornered by several underlings. Their eyes gleamed with battle-light.

"Aaaah!" Luffy screamed, throwing punches as fast as he could.

 **oOo**

 **oOo Day 4**

Ace stared out over the island, awed by the view he had from the top of the mountain. Then he yawned, having not slept at all since Garp's arrival. Maybe he could take a nap up here . . .

"Grahahaha! There you are!" Garp bellowed cheerfully. Ace froze, slowly turning to face his grandfather. _Crap_ . . . the boy thought.

Suddenly, his grandfather's head drooped forward, a snot bubble forming from his nose as the man began to snore. Ace couldn't believe his luck. The boy started tip-toeing away and down the hill. He had to find Luffy, make sure his brother was alright.

 **oOo**

Locks had gotten bored of watching Ace get chased by the big strange man, so she had gone to spy on Luffy instead. The rubber boy was doing an admirable job of hitting everything _but_ his targets, a trio of grinning monkeys. Locks wondered how strong they were, having gotten the urge to fight something. A bored dragon is a violent dragon. The monkey king soon discovered that for himself, as Luffy finally had one of his fists rebound off a tree into a monkey's face. The same thing happened two more times, leaving Luffy victorious. He ran off, looking for Ace.

Locks won her fight too, electrocuting the monkey king when he became too predictable and boring.

 **oOo**

 **oOo Day 5**

Luffy found Ace asleep on his feet. Summoning a marker pen out of thin air, Luffy proceeded to draw all over his brother's face. Then, Luffy proceeded to run away as an angry Ace chased him. Then, they both proceeded to get the hell away from Garp, who had been drawn by the sound of Ace's shouting. Ace was regretting being so loud.

Locks didn't have a clue what was going on, but she found their faces funny. If Garp hadn't been so intent on his grandsons, he might have noticed the giggling girl trailing along behind them.

 **oOo**

 **oOo Day 6**

Garp finally caught his grandsons. Ace and Luffy did not appreciate this development.

Locks wondered why the crazy man kept talking about these 'marine' people. She also wondered how incapacitating people helped them get stronger. An idea sprouted in her mind.

 **oOo**

 **oOo Day 7**

Garp left. Ace and Luffy danced with joy, despite their many bruises.


	7. Chapter 7

After the great Garp escapade, Ace decided that he should really start training more seriously if he wanted to beat the old man. Luffy thought this was a great idea, and wanted to join in. Ace told him to improve his aim first.

And so, Locks was given a knife and a leg of meat. Every time Luffy hit his target, she was to cut off a piece to give to him. Needless to say, Luffy's aim rapidly improved with such an incentive. But this was only using half the distance he could stretch. Ace decreed that until he could hit his target 50% of the time (Ace didn't think he'd get any better); Luffy still had to do target practice with Locks.

 **oOo**

The meat disappeared at an incredible rate, but only because Locks was helping herself to it when Luffy wasn't looking. So Ace gave Locks two legs of meat, one for her and one for Luffy. Rather than do his target practice, Luffy brawled with Locks for the second leg. Unfortunately for Luffy, Locks was a fire-breather and was mysteriously making the ground shake to throw off his aim when he lunged for the meat

When Ace first saw this, he just stared. Then he hit his brother for not doing as he was told. After that, Ace joined his brother in the endeavour of retrieving the meat from the evil dragon girl before she ate it all. Unfortunately for Ace, he was not made of rubber and was therefore susceptible to lightning. And Locks little earthquake trick was downright irritating. It was hard to fight when the ground was moving.

 **oOo**

Night fell. Both boys lay exhausted on the ground, panting heavily as they enviously watched the dragon girl strip the last of the meat from the bones. They eyed her mutinously as she wandered off into the night, leaving them to lie by the fire she'd made. Their stomachs grumbled and growled, but they'd spent all day struggling to get the meat from Locks instead of hunting for their own.

Ace had a-. *snore*

Narcolepsy was a fickle thing. Luffy snuggled against his brother on the ground; soon falling asleep on an empty stomach (he'd catch a crocodile tomorrow).

 **oOo**

Ace woke up to a wonderful smell. So did Luffy. Untangling themselves (Luffy was like an octopus) they sat up with mouths watering. Locks was roasting boar. At least, they assumed that it was Locks. The meat had been left unattended and the girl was nowhere to be seen.

Ace reached towards the meat- _ **Zap!**_ His hair stood on end as a bolt of lightning hit him. Luffy laughed, unaffected by the electricity.

 **oOo**

They eventually got their meat.

After they learned to dodge lightning bolts and fireballs.

Ace wondered what in the Blues had possessed him to take in such a little tyrant. She was only a year younger than him! The next thing he knew, he had been chucked into the stream by a sudden upheaval of the ground. A small neat pile of clean clothes wafted down to earth out of splash range. A second pile landed beside the first. The little tyrant emerged from the treehouse. She pointed at the clothes, then Ace, then Luffy, then the water.

" _Crrrean_." She said. Ace stared at her in incomprehension.

" _Crrrean_." She said again, and wandered off back into the forest.

"She wants us to take a bath!" Luffy translated cheerfully.

 **oOo**

Locks returned from wherever she'd been with a dead bear. The bear was lunch, apparently, seeing as she was stoking the fire and spitting the thing.

By this time, Ace and Luffy had cleaned themselves up, mostly because they didn't want to find out what other powers Locks possessed. You'd be nervous too if someone blew fireballs and threw lightning at you while making the ground shake. She also appeared able to make clothes fly, and was able to turn into a dragon. What an interesting little stray for Ace to have picked up. Thankfully, this time they got their meat without any deadly barrages.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Well, what do you know? Sparklingly is a word, at least according to the laptop.**_

 **oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Locks had actually understood most of Luffy's stories about Sabo. Not all, but most. So she reasoned that if they wanted to become thieving sailors, then they would have to be strong and fast to be able to escape the strange big seagull man and his . . . whatever the little seagull men were called. Clan? No. Herd? No. Locks knew there was a word for them, but she hadn't learned it yet. So, she had taken it upon herself to teach the two hunter boys better instincts, in the way that she herself had been taught.

This involved taking something both really enjoyed and using it as a reward. To get their reward, they had to get past/overcome whatever sort of obstacles she thought would best challenge them. Locks was quite pleased with their current progress, seeing as they were now 'hit' only about 75% of the time (Locks was holding back so they didn't get hurt). Fortunately for the two brothers, she usually found other things to do most of the time. They only had to mêlée for their meat about once a day. Twice if Locks was bored.

It had taken a while, but Ace had recognised the training for what it was. And so Ace was grateful that Locks didn't get bored often. The girl was usually off exploring, or terrorising the bandits with one of her fits of OCD. Strangely, she was only affected by this disorder when in the hideout's vicinity. When she cleaned the treehouse (once a week) she never seemed to feel the need to put everything in sparklingly perfect alignment.

 **oOo**

Ace could only take so much of Locks' training before he felt the need to ask _why_. The answer surprised him. She had gotten the gist of their dream of becoming pirates, and had in her draconian way wanted to prepare them. She also found electrocution amusing, but that wasn't the point. Locks had found one of Sabo's books in a corner, which was partly the original inspiration for her terrifying training regime. The other inspiration had been the training she had apparently gone through when younger, though she shuddered when she mentioned this.

It was a book on _Haki_. Ace had never heard of Haki. Locks couldn't read, but there were illustrations and diagrams in the book designed to show the reader how to unlock and train their Haki. Ace wondered where Sabo had got the book.

There was a picture of a blindfolded man dodging various objects that were thrown at him by another man. Clearly, this is where Locks got the idea for hurling lightning bolts. Reading the page opposite, Ace saw that this was Observation Haki. Ace didn't really get most of the explanation, but he was _very_ thankful that Locks hadn't blindfolded him when she started spitting fireballs. Turning the page, he saw an illustration of several people with coloured hazes surrounding them. The explanation said something about sensing auras.

"Can you do this?" he asked, looking at Locks.

"I sense, yes. E-mote-ons, I sense, rainbow spectrum change."

"Emotions." He corrected, guessing that she meant something about colour changes. "Can you sense other things too?"

"Yes, I sense. Not sense strength, but sense power."

"What's the difference?"

"You stronger than little hunter, I watch, know that. Little hunter has bouncy power, me no control."

"Devil Fruit." He corrected, and she waved a hand in dismissal.

"Me no control. I no care."

Without Luffy and his magic translating powers, Ace wasn't going to bother decoding the meaning behind that. He moved on to his next question.

"Is this what you've been trying to . . . teach us?"

"Yes, but no see fire, you explode."

"Right." Ace replied, feeling disconcerted. He returned the book to her waiting hand.


	9. Chapter 9

_**5 reviews! Yay! To**_ **Tsukino Aisuru – A** _ **, we will see some of her past, but not for a few chapters yet.**_

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Ace collapsed, covered in small bruises from pebbles and bigger bruises from his brother's fists. Having re-read the pages several times, Ace had decided to try and unlock Observation. It was very frustrating.

The book had said something about results not being immediate, but Ace had been sure that he would have accomplished _something_ by now. Yet, he hadn't managed to dodge a single blow. How depressing.

Luffy had shown no interest as of yet in being pelted with projectiles, preferring to continue Locks' meat guarding regime. The rubber boy bounced about randomly, concentrating on avoiding fireballs since he was immune to lightning. Locks tutted at this as she helped Ace up.

"I find two book. One picture man no see, other picture man power." She said, dusting the older boy's back, "Book man power, have weakness, water bad, rock bad." She pointed at Luffy, saying "What if lightning bullet? What if bullet is rock? Think he okay, but then find not." She shook her head. "Complacency."

Sometimes, she surprised Ace with words like that. He was pretty sure that she was talking about Sea Stone, which his grandfather had warned him and Luffy about at some stage. Locks was right. What if Luffy was shot at with a Sea Stone bullet? Wait a minute . . .

"How'd you know he's bullet proof?"

"Bullet blunt. Blunt things bounce off little hunter. Sharp hurt." She replied.

Luffy reached the meat and Locks ceased her rain. Ace raced over before his little brother could eat it all.

 **oOo**

Ace collapsed for the fifth day in a row, still not making any progress. Luffy stopped throwing random punches, and began to pick his nose. Locks was elsewhere, presumably getting meat for Luffy's 'training'. The rubber boy was getting good at dodging.

Speaking of which, Ace realised that it had been a while since Luffy had been eaten by a crocodile. He didn't know why that thought popped into his head, or why it seemed to be an issue. Then he realised that it had been a while since either had left the clearing around the treehouse. They'd both been too busy training (Luffy punched trees and Ace practised with his pipe) while Locks had been the one to get their food. Ace resolved to go somewhere the next day. If he went now, Luffy would eat whatever Locks brought back.

Honestly, Locks was a lot like some live-in maid/baby-sitter/personal trainer. It made Ace feel guilty for some reason. She was a year younger than him after all, and yet she seemed to do more work than both of them combined. While she definitely enjoyed 'training' them, she didn't really seem to have time for normal fun, like terrorising the neighbourhood. That reminded Ace that it had been a while since he and Luffy went to town . . .

That settled it. Tomorrow, they were going to town and bringing Locks with them. A wicked grin took over Ace's face at the thought

 _Look out everybody; we've got a dragon . . ._

It was at that moment that Locks returned, lugging an enormous crocodile. For someone so small, she was scary strong.


	10. Chapter 10

Everyone knows that Ace is paranoid about people discovering his father's identity. Now he was applying his very reasonable paranoia to Locks. While he would gladly make use of her unique powers to terrify people, he was determined that those people wouldn't realise what she was. He made both Locks and Luffy put cloaks on, wearing one himself as well. He and Luffy grinned at each other. Look out everybody, here they come.

 **oOo**

The people didn't particularly pay much attention to three small cloaked figures skulking in the alleyways. At least, not until Ace spray painted flames onto the walls. That's how the _fun_ started. Paint is flammable after all. As the guards began to give chase, Ace gave the order. For a moment, Locks was running backwards. Then the spray-painted flames set themselves on fire. Man, did that give the guards a fright. The men stopped to stare at the fiery wall while the three made their escape to another part of town.

They next decided that an early lunch was in order. They raced through the market-place, snatching all the food they could carry before racing away from the fresh batch of guards. Through some miracle of physics, the three squeezed into a barrel and ploughed through their snacks. Ace and Luffy did, at least. Locks didn't really eat much between meals.

They returned to the original scene of the crime, trying their flame trick on the next rotation of guards. The looks on their faces!

Luffy had glue and glitter, though no one dared ask him why. But they were sure to put them to good use. First they sent Luffy running through with the glue, squirting it everywhere. Then Ace sent Locks running through throwing glitter. She seemed mystified by the instruction. Ace watched to make sure neither got caught, but mostly so he could see the expressions on everyone's faces. Priceless.

 **oOo**

After a lunch of stolen sausages (fire breathing girls were very useful), they moved on to a more shady part of town. Locks seemed to enjoy their exploits here more than she had earlier.

First, they descended on a batch of thugs that couldn't take the hint that Locks wanted nothing to do with them. Finally, the girl lost her temper. Ace laughed his head off as they met his dragon (and her lightning). Wait, _his_ dragon?

Then Luffy demanded an after lunch snack (Ace was inclined to agree). Things certainly got interesting when the waiter tried to make Locks pay for the meal. She had chosen to calmly walk away instead of racing the boys. The waiter would be scarred for life (mentally) after Locks showed what Ace thought was a surprising command of curses. She also set the table on fire, put the fire out and electrocuted three other staff who attempted to prevent her leaving. Was it just him, or did she electrocute _everyone_. Let's not forget how she made a glass full of water fly into the manager's face, yet another ability Ace hadn't known about. The brothers laughed at all this from behind the safety of a stack of crates.

 **oOo**

After oh so casually leaving, Luffy somehow convinced them to visit Fuchsia.

"Makino!"

The rubber boy raced towards the green-haired woman as soon as they entered Party's bar. Ace lingered near the doorway, unnoticed by any of the bar's occupants. He motioned for Locks to go forward, though. The girl did so hesitantly, seeming uncomfortable around the few people in the bar at this time of day. Makino smiled.

"Who's your friend, Luffy?" she asked. Locks shrank back, slinking to Ace's side.

"That's Locks!" Luffy said cheerily, but he made no mention of dragons thanks to a lecture (*cough* thumping*cough*) Ace had given him a few days ago.

They spent their visit stuffing their faces, and introducing Locks. The girl didn't like getting close to other people, something that Ace had never noticed before. It took them an hour to get Locks to stand still long enough for Makino to say hello without fear of electrocution. Makino didn't seem to mind, though, just smiling each time the girl growled at her.

Ace was grateful that Makino was so patient, because he was pretty sure he would have given up if he was in her shoes. He did note, however, that Locks was gentler with her electricity than she had been when Ace had chucked her in the stream. He cringed involuntarily at the reminder.

 **oOo**

They went home with full stomachs and a sleepy dragon and little brother. Ace "encouraged" them into the treehouse (Locks would have slept on the ground if he'd let her). The sun went down, the end of another eventful day.


	11. Chapter 11

**_Patience, dear reviewers. The dragon and the crazy old man shall indeed meet! But I think I shall keep you in suspense for a few chapters yet . . .  
_**

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 _I've got my ticket for the long way 'round-_

They'd been walking for hours.

 _-the one with the prettiest view_

They were on top of Mt Corvo, staring out over the island.

 _It's got mountains-_

Locks blinked in surprise as Luffy spontaneously tripped over his own two feet while standing still and began rolling down the steep slope. After a moment of contemplation, she changed into her half-form and flew after him.

 _-it's got rivers-_

Luffy rolled into a crocodile infested stream and promptly got eaten. Locks sighed, her hand crackling with lightning as she formed a fist. The croc never saw it coming.

 _-it's got woods to give you shivers_

Locks grabbed the back of Luffy's shirt before he could fall out of the tree they'd somehow ended up in.

 _But it sure would be prettier with you._

Locks wondered what Ace was up to. Whatever it was, he was trying to keep it a secret by sending Locks to "walk Luffy" as if his brother was a puppy and not an over-excitable human being.

 **oOo**

Ace ducked his head, narrowly avoiding a fast-moving plate as he jumped to evade Dogra's fist. He then danced to one side to escape a knife. Suddenly, the bombardment stopped. He removed the blind-fold. Dadan shrugged at him helplessly.

"We ran out." she said, before shrinking under his gaze.

"Then find _more_. And you don't need that stuff to be able to punch me." Ace said, glaring at Dogra. The man sweat-dropped, raising his fist tentatively. Ace replaced the blind-fold and signalled for him to begin, while the other bandits scuttled around in the background searching for utensils and crockery. All these big tough grown-ups scared of one _blind-folded_ ten year old boy. Isn't that just sad?

 **oOo**

 _You're gonna miss me by my hair_

The knife only just missed her head as she ducked. A few strands of hair floated to the ground as Locks narrowed her eyes.

 _You're gonna miss me everywhere_

She tucked and rolled, vanishing from her opponents sight as she landed in a bush.

 _You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

The man thrust a sword into the bush, sure that he had her now. But she had already escaped.

 **oOo**

The bandits lay prone on the ground, panting and covered in sweat. Ace removed his blind-fold, a big grin on his face. Locks would be so surprised, he couldn't wait to see the look on her face.

 **oOo**

 _You're gonna miss me by my walk_  
Locks ran lightly through the jungle, searching for Luffy. She ran right past one of the thief-men, but he didn't hear her.

 _You'll miss me by my talk  
_ She soon found him, glaring into a clearing from behind a curtain of vines. She whispered to him, and he followed her quietly, unusually so.

 _You're gonna miss me when I'm gone_

The thief-men had no idea how close they had come to the wrath of a dragon. But they were sure going to miss their leader now that he was gone.

A couple of miles away, said leader still stumbling along, in the opposite direction the girl had run off in.

A little closer to the clearing, a man, one of the lookouts, cursed crossly as he realised he had been outsmarted by a kid.

 **oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 _ **Lyrics from Lulu and the Lampshades. I'm presuming that Higuma's bandits just got a new leader after he got eaten. And, unknown to his group, the new leader met Locks. Worried dragons tend to be aggressive, so you can guess what she did.**_


	12. Chapter 12

Ace arrived at the treehouse to find Luffy in the middle of an unusually brutal training session. He watched, perplexed as Locks chased Luffy around the clearing. He listened, confused as Locks appeared to be lecturing Luffy.

"We no pick fight with bandit!"

"You no walk off!" "You no go run hide!"

"I no want to fix up mess, yes?!"

Luffy covered his head with his hands and ducked as Locks swung a flame-covered fist at him.

"Okay, okay! I no do that again!"

Ace blinked. Was Locks' way of talking contagious? Judging by Luffy's red face, they'd been doing this for a while, but Ace wasn't particularly worried. He found that strange, since if it was Gramps and not Locks- Nope. Not gonna think about that. He rubbed his head subconsciously.

"Ace! Save me!"

Without any other warning, Ace was knocked over by a frantic little brother, causing him to stumble into the path of an angry dragon who was mid-yell.

"Wha-!" that was all Ace said before Locks collided with him.

 **oOo**

For a moment, Ace's mind was blank, eyes tight shut as pain blossomed in the back of his head. Slowly he opened them, wondering at the strange sensation on his lips . . . His eyes flew wide, his shocked gaze meeting Locks' eyes as she threw herself off his chest to her feet.

He'd just kissed Locks . . . Ahh!

Ace flushed a deep red, sitting up and staring at the ground in mortification, a cloud of gloom settling over him. He'd never been so embarrassed in his life . . . His head jerked up.

"LUFFY!"

The rubber boy gulped. Ace got to his feet, burning eyes settling on his little brother, face still as red as a tomato. The rubber boy yelped, and ran for his life.

 **oOo**

Locks watched them leave the clearing, head tilted to one side. She had already calmed down, and was nursing a bump on her forehead. She'd never seen the hunter's face look like that before . . . she wondered why. It occurred to her that if hunter was trying to murder his little brother (not for the first time if Luffy was to be believed) then neither of them would be catching dinner. She'd have to it herself, then.

Off she marched, in a different direction than the brother's had taken. There was no point following them, they'd be scaring all the prey away. She smirked. Ace could finish little hunter's punishment for her while she hunted.

 **oOo**

In the end, it wasn't Ace that caught Luffy, but a rather large crocodile. Despite the temptation to leave the boy in there, Ace wasn't heartless enough to refuse his brother's cries for help. Well, Luffy wasn't really asking for help. The boy was actually shouting insults at the reptile from inside its mouth, the lizard's cheeks bulging randomly from where Luffy was punching it.

With a large stick, Ace pried the creature's jaws open and freed his little brother. Then, the two promptly finished it off. Crocodile was tasty, or at least they thought so.

 **oOo**

Locks made a fist with her right hand, which began to glow. Soon, two circles began to move up and down her arm, moving inside and outside each other. It was a new thing she wanted to try out. She could feel the power building in her hand.

She smiled.

The bear never saw it coming.

 **oOo**

The boys walked into the clearing to see a bear spitted on a fire. Ace gulped. At this rate, she'd hunt all the bears on the island!

He and Luffy deposited the crocodile to the side, Ace intending to skin it later. They sat down, watching the roasting bear closely, and glancing nervously around for Locks, who was nowhere to be found.

A little light-bulb appeared above Ace's head as he remembered something.

"Hey, Lu."

"Meat . . ."

Ace tapped him lightly on the head to get his attention.

"Lu?"

"Huh?"

"What was Locks so mad about earlier?"

"Oh, I picked a fight with the bandits Bear-guy used to boss around."

"Bear-guy?" Ace repeated confusedly. Then he remembered how Luffy had gone on and on and on about this 'Shanks' guy who saved his life from the Lord of the coast after some bear bandit attacked him. Ace still wasn't sure what a bear bandit was, but the guy had apparently got eaten . . . wait a minute-

Narcolepsy doesn't exactly have the best timing. Ace's last thought was that a) Luffy was in a heap of trouble, and that b) Ace really ought to thank that Shanks guy . . .


	13. Chapter 13

Ace was going into Fuchsia to talk to Makino, leaving Locks to baby-sit Luffy. Not that Locks would be aware of it yet, seeing as both brother and dragon were fast asleep in the treehouse.

 **oOo**

Locks opened one eye, glancing around the treehouse bemusedly. Then she lifted her scaly head, sniffing the air. Hunter was gone. With a sigh, the dragon got to her feet, hearing a quiet thud as Little Hunter's head slipped off her side and onto the floor. He didn't wake, however, and Locks shook the sleep from her limbs before a dim glow was emitted from her silver scales. Now, a girl stood blinking instead of a yawning dragon.

She turned to Luffy, who was still snoring on the floor. She grabbed his nose and pulled, the other hand holding down his forehead. As the boy began to frown in his sleep, Locks let go of his nose, which returned into place with a _snap!_

 **oOo**

"Huh?" the rubber boy said, blinking rapidly. Soon, a girl came into focus, standing over him with a resigned expression.

"Ace gone walk." She said, "I in charge."

Luffy nodded, frowning, wondering where Ace had gone. He knew that Locks didn't know, or else she would already be dragging Luffy to follow the older boy. She was weird like that. Luffy didn't dare voice that out loud, opting instead to complain "I'm hungry."

"You always hungry." Locks muttered as she left the treehouse. Knowing this to be a sign of a future meal, Luffy was quick to follow her.

 **oOo**

A crocodile later, Luffy was temporarily sated, so Locks decided to explore the island. She still hadn't quite been everywhere yet. She usually looked around by flying over (discreetly, as Ace was adamant that no one discover her) and landing in interesting places, but flying with Luffy on board was probably dangerous, so she was walking for now. Stupid Hunter, leaving her to baby-sit . . .

Locks slowed right down to a stop, Luffy nearly knocking her over since he wasn't paying attention. She gave him a half-hearted glare when she'd regained her balance, before turning back to stare at the far edge of the clearing. She approached it hesitantly, coming to a stop at the edge of a shallow indentation in the ground. Luffy followed, picking his nose.

"What's that?" he asked bluntly.

"This where I land." She replied.

Luffy looked at her blankly, silently asking for an explanation.

"Hunter not tell you? I fall out of sky." She pointed to the dent. "I land here. Hunter think I food, try hit me. I change into two-leg, run, he chase me. I faint."

The fact that Locks could fly wasn't news to Luffy, who had seen her take-off early in the morning most days. But this was the first yime he'd heard of her falling.

"Why'd you fall?"

"I culled." She replied, and that was all that she would say on the matter as she abruptly went silent and turned back the way they'd come from.

Figuring that he could just ask Ace later, Luffy followed her. Soon, he began to sing. He wasn't very good at it, and the song made no sense to anyone but Luffy (and possibly Ace).

"And they're all idiots!" he sang loudly. Locks winced, covering her ears.

 **oOo**

Ace returned to a roaring fire and a roasting bear, which was great, because he was _starving_. But first, Luffy had a question for him.

"Ace, what does 'culled' mean?"

Ace thought for a moment, wracking his brain for an answer Luffy would understand.

"Uh, culled means . . . uh, the weakest member of the group is . . . kicked out of the group." Ace said, looking at Luffy to see if he understood. His little brother nodded seriously before asking "Why?"

"Because the group doesn't want the weak one to slow them down . . . Why do want to know, anyway?"

"Locks said she was culled." Luffy said with a shrug. Then the meat was ready and both brothers temporarily forgot the matter.


	14. Chapter 14

"Luffy!"

"Little Hunter?"

" **Where are you?!** "

Luffy was missing, and neither Ace nor Locks had any idea where he might be. The two had woken up to find no trace of him in the treehouse and the clearing below. But that didn't matter. They would find him. They would catch him. And then they would kill him for making them worry!

 **oOo**

Luffy frowned, scratching his head. He had only intended to hide in the bushes around the treehouse clearing, but then a tiger showed up and chased him up a tree. He could vaguely hear the voice of his brother and babysitter in the distance. He didn't dare make a sound. The tiger was still glaring at him from the base of the tree, and he really didn't want to face an angry Ace and his dragon right now.

Luffy's stomach growled. He hadn't had breakfast yet. He glowered at the tiger, wishing it would go away and leave him alone.

 **oOo**

A couple of hours later . . .

Ace and Locks collapsed against a tree in exhaustion. Obviously, they still hadn't found Luffy.

They'd looked under boulders and searched the bushes. They'd gone around checking old traps that had been set when Sabo had been with them. Locks had been puzzled by this, since she'd never seen the traps used, and Ace didn't want to talk about it. The snares were empty, and they had dismantled them for safety.

They had checked giant birds' nests up on the mountain, and run away desperately when the birds gave chase. Which was why they were panting heavily, leaning against the tree trunk.

Ace tilted his head back to make breathing easier, mentally picturing all the ways he was going to get back at Luffy. He imagined the look on Luffy's face if the boy was told he was getting no more meat for a month. Imagining this reminded Ace of something.

"Locks?"

"Mmm?"

"Luffy said *pant* said you were culled."

He felt her shift, sensing her eyes boring into him.

"Yes?" she said finally.

"What *pant* does that mean for *pant* dragons?" he asked. Ace knew that for farming, culling was taking out the least productive animals out of the herd. He had Sabo to thank for that information.

 **oOo**

Luffy felt sleepy. His head began to droop forward . . .

Down below, the tiger still waited.

 **oOo**

Ace thought that Locks wasn't going to answer at first. He was about to tell her to forget about it when she said "Culling is taking out the runts and leaving them die."

Ace's eyes widened as he turned his head to look at her as she continued.

"My sire is clan leader. Most runts left to die by 4, 5 years. My sire wait 9. I no get stronger as fast as other hatchlings. Other hatchlings bullies. Sire lose patience, tired of waiting for me when migrating. Try kill me. I land on this island. You find me. That what you want know?"

Ace stared at her. Her dad tried to _kill_ her? Locks stared back at him, frowning. Finally, she said "What?"

Ace snapped out of his daze.

"He tried to kill you?" he said disbelievingly. She shrugged.

"That way dragon clans work. Just means I weak. Get stronger, no be culled again."

It then occurred to Ace that if Locks was a runt, then he didn't want to meet a normal one under _any_ circumstances. It was enough having just her electrocuting and trying to fry him. Still . . . your own father trying to kill you? It suddenly irked him that she seemed okay with that.

 _ **Bonk!**_

Locks blinked, rubbing her forehead.

"That kind of thing is _not_ okay, got it?!"

It took her a couple of moments to get what he was talking about, and then she opened her mouth to protest. Ace flicked her in the forehead, getting to his feet.

"No," he said, "I don't care if that's how the clan/thing whatever works. It's still not okay. Now come on." he held out a hand to her.

She looked at him hesitantly. Ace shook his hand in her face so it caught her attention. After another moment of hesitance, she took his hand and let herself be pulled to her feet. He grinned, ruffling her hair, which made her scowl.

"You've got _us_ now." He said simply. And off they went to find a little rubber idiot.

 **oOo**

"Zzzz. Zzzz." Luffy snored, body leaning more and more to the left.

"Zzzz. Zzzz." Luffy snored, falling out of the tree.

"GROWR!" the tiger roared as Luffy landed on its head.

 **oOo**

"AAAARRGH!"

Ace and Locks looked at each other. Didn't that sound familiar? They looked back at the trail ahead of them. A dust-cloud was rising above the trees, and loud crashing sounds could be heard. They saw a head of black hair.

Was that Luffy?

They saw something stripy.

Was that a tiger?

Ace and Locks' eyes widened comically.

"Shit." Ace stated

 **oOo**

" **AAAARRGH!** " three children yelled, a tiger chasing them. Suddenly, one almost stopped as an idea hit him.

"Hey Locks, you can fly! GET US OUT OF HERE!"

"WITH PLEASURE!"


	15. Chapter 15

Locks scanned the trail ahead for a somewhat more open space. As soon as the trail widened-

 **oOo**

Ace felt something grab the back of his shirt as a bright light surrounded both he and Luffy. He turned his head in panic, seeing sharp grey claws gripping Luffy's shirt as well. Their feet began to leave the ground with a whoosh of the silvery-white wings overhead.

There was a tree in the middle of the track and they were heading straight for it. It was getting closer and closer and-

Ace screamed along with Luffy as they barely cleared the top of the tree, only to see an even bigger tree in their way. The boys brought their knees to their chest to keep their feet from scraping the top branches. They faintly heard the dragon growl over their screams, wings pumping in an attempt to get over yet _another_ , even taller tree. Ace could tell that they weren't going to make it. He brought his arms up to protect his face, closing his eyes, screaming even louder in fright. He sensed Luffy doing the same, the rubber boy calling out in an all too gleeful voice "We're all gonna die!"

Ace suddenly felt everything tilt dizzily, and he heard a loud "Mumph!". He timidly opened his eyes, seeing that they had gone around the tree safely. Luffy's mouth was full of leaves. Ace sweat-dropped. He knew that his brother could eat almost anything, but _leaves_? Wasn't that a bit much? Not even Luffy would be able to digest them, no matter how much he tried.

"Spit those out!" Ace yelled crossly, momentarily forgetting that they were hundreds of metres above the ground.

Way, way down below, the tiger twitched its ears in irritation as the sky rained slobber-soaked leaves. It roared grumpily, before wandering off to terrorize some other unfortunates.

 **oOo**

Ace was (sort of, not really) getting used to being carried by claws poking holes in the back of his shirt. Luffy was having a blast. Suddenly, they were both dropped.

"Aaargh!" Ace screamed, eyes widening.

"We're gonna die!" Luffy yelled, laughing. Honestly, that boy has no real sense of self-preservation.

"Oomph!" Ace wheezed as all the air was knocked out of him as he landed on something. He started to slip, so he quickly rolled over and grabbed hold of a small rounded spike that was literally right in front of his nose. Having no wish to fall to his death, he dragged himself up and straddled the spiny whatever-it-was. Ace then looked around frantically for Luffy, spotting a pair of rubber arms wrapped multiple times around a . . . neck.

Ace carefully moved forward, sitting in the hollow where the neck and shoulders met. He dragged his little brother up to sit in front of him. He realised that Locks had caught him on her back. She probably would have caught Luffy the same way if the rubber boy hadn't grabbed her neck first.

They were really flying. On a dragon. Ace tilted his head back, staring up at the clouds that still seemed to move so slowly. Carefully, hesitantly, he leaned forward. Keeping a tight hold of Luffy, he marvelled at how Dawn Island looked from so high above. In comparison to the clouds, the ground seemed to sprint by. He saw that they were approaching Mt Corvo.

 **oOo**

Ace held on tight as Locks banked to curve her flight around the mountain that seemed to glare up jealously from below. With Luffy giggling uncontrollably in front of him, Ace couldn't help but laugh in delight. This was . . . amazing. The dragon seemed to shake beneath him as Locks purred loudly.

 **oOo**

They glided to a stop in a clearing by a crocodile infested stream. Luffy was promptly eaten, Ace rescued him, and Locks sleepily electrocuted the culprit. The croc was dragged to the clearing, and Ace built up a fire. Locks blew on the wood to set it alight.

After thoroughly demolishing dinner, they collapsed in a heap on the ground. Luffy fell asleep against Locks' scaly side, Ace found himself lying against the dragon's chest between her fore-paws. One of her legs had a scar that looked suspiciously like a large bite-mark. He was lulled to sleep by the slow, even breathing of the dragon.


	16. Chapter 16

Ace was sitting in Party's bar, early in the morning. He's once again left Locks alone with Luffy. Ace smirked, wondering what sort of trouble he'd get up to today . . . then Ace blushed, remembering what happened last time. He covered his mouth with his hand, and desperately tried to think of something less embarrassing. Just at that moment, Makino emerged. She blinked at Ace's red face, but decided to ignore for the time-being.

 **oOo**

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Come on, _Locks_." He said her name in a whiny voice.

"No."

"Please? Just once?" he said with puppy eyes.

"No." she replied, unaffected.

"Why not?"

"I say so."

"But last week you-"

"No. That final. I not going to take you flying." She said crossly.

Luffy pouted.

"No fair." He muttered.

Locks rolled her eyes at his behaviour, and returned to looking for food. Berries, and things like that, because Luffy was scaring off all the animals. Then again, she couldn't blame Luffy for everything. The forest had been oddly quiet even before the rubber boy started nagging her.

 **oOo**

Ace was just about to take a break when Makino's first customer of the day walked in. Ace hid, watching warily.

"Yo, Makino." The customer said.

"Yes? What can I get you?" Makino asked with a smile.

"The usual. You know me. How's your sake supply?"

Makino raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"You don't know?" the customer said, "Garp's ship's coming. You know how much the Vice-Admiral drinks."

Ace's eyes widened. Garp was coming! He had to warn the others!

Carefully, quietly, he slunk out of the bar. He slipped through the backways of Fuchsia. As soon as he reached the edge of the jungle, he began to sprint. He had to hide Luffy and Locks before Garp got here!

Unfortunately for Ace, Garp wasn't actually on his ship. The Vice-Admiral had made his men drop him off elsewhere on the island so it would be easier to sneak up on his grandsons. This time, it was a test of the boys' senses, to see if they could find him before _he_ found _them_.

 **oOo**

Locks froze, grabbing the back of Luffy's shirt so he couldn't wander off. She sniffed the air cautiously. There it was again! That smell!

Luffy looked at her questioningly. She put a finger to her lips in warning, straining her ears. Faintly, she heard the crack of a twig. Finally, she stretched out her sixth sense. Her eyes widened.

Luffy was frowning at her. He opened his mouth to say something, but Locks shut it by pushing his chin up. She whispered quietly in his ear.

"The crazy seagull who chases you is here."

Luffy looked at her blankly while his mind translated and processed that sentence. Then he screamed "Aaaargh! Gramps is here! We have to run!"

Locks' eyes bulged in disbelief. Then she felt the aura shift, becoming more alert and focused. Focused on them. Shit (Ace taught her that word).

 **oOo**

Ace had just made it to the treehouse when he heard a scream coming from the distance.

"Aaaargh! Gramps is here! We have to run!"

Ace's eyes widened. How had he got here so fast? His ship wasn't even in port when Ace left Fuchsia! Ace ran towards the sound of the scream. Luffy was in trouble! Locks too, but she could take care of herself.

"Aaaargh!" his little brother's voice was getting louder, closer, fast.


	17. Chapter 17

**hanalulu _, I love you!_ Tsukino _, you're awaesome!_ Ainums _, you're cool too. Everyone else, a word or two (review) to let me know what you think would be nice._  
**

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Before Ace had any real chance to react, the chase was upon him. He was suddenly bowled over by a panicking Luffy.

 **oOo**

Locks leapt to the side to avoid tripping over the two brothers. She found her way forward blocked by a tree. She whirled around to face her pursuer.

 **oOo**

Garp's eyes followed the little girl's movements, and he skidded to a halt before he ran into the tree. He looked down on her with a grin. So, his grandsons had made a new friend? Good! Someone else he could train to be a strong marine! But first . . .

"That's no way to greet your grandfather! Fist of Love!"

 **oOo**

Ace stared in horror as Gramps punched Locks in the head. Shitty old man! How dare he! Before Ace could start protesting, however, something very strange happened.

First, Garp's eyes began to water. Then the crazy old man bit his lip. Locks just blinked. Finally-

"Gaah! That hurt!"

Garp began to jump up and down, clutching the hand he'd punched Locks with, tears rolling down his face as he yelled and ran around in pain. Ace and Luffy stared at him as if he'd grown two heads, before turning to face Locks.

"You not my grandfather." The girl said bluntly. The Fist of Love didn't seem to have affected her in the slightest, despite the enormous bump growing on her forehead. She calmly walked into Garp's path, holding out a single crackling finger. She poked Garp as the man ran past.

 _ **Zap!**_

Garp's head stood on end as he froze on the spot, before slowly toppling forward and face-planting.

"Don't hit me." Locks said tranquilly.

Ace and Luffy's jaws dropped.

 **oOo**

 **oOo**

When Garp had recovered from his electrocution, he immediately stood up and started crying tears of joy. Ace and Luffy hid behind Locks as best they could, staring up fearfully at their grandfather.

"I'm . . . I'm so happy!" Garp said loudly, "My grandsons have such a strong friend! She'll make a great marine!" he cried.

Ace and Luffy suddenly jumped in front of Locks, teeth sharpening as they yelled in unison "The hell she is!"

"Don't talk to your grandfather like that!" Garp said, regaining his composure. Locks tilted her head to one side, not understanding what in the Blues was going on.

Ace and Luffy had shark teeth as they yelled "Locks is going to be a pirate on my crew!"

The brother's looked at each other in shock. "Your crew?!" the yelled at each other, "She's going to be on _my_ crew!"

The two butted heads, glaring. Garp chose that moment to yell "Hell no! You're all going to join the marines!"

"As if!"

"Are so!"

"We're going to be pirates! And so is Locks!"

"You two are a bad influence!"

Back and forth it went. Now Locks was _really_ confused. The only thing she understood was that all three were acting like children. Hunter and Little Hunter were children, but what was the crazy seagull man's excuse? Besides, she didn't want to be a seagull man. First of all, she was a girl, and secondly, if every seagull man was like this then she'd always be running around breaking up fights. Speaking of which . . .

 _ **Zap!**_

Garp got a taste of Locks' lightning yet again.

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 _ **As far as I'm concerned, Locks trumps Garp every time.**_


	18. Chapter 18

**Tsukino _, I don't mean for her to seem overpowered. I just think that it would be highly unlikely that Garp would expect to get zapped by a little girl, therefore she'd catch him off-guard._**

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Locks wandered away from the clearing, bored with the scene. The other three didn't notice her, too caught up in their fight.

 **oOo**

Ace sensed his grandfather's fist and ducked, rolling out of the way of another Fist of Love. From behind the Vice-Admiral, Luffy took aim.

Garp didn't believe that Luffy would actually be able to hit him and kept focused on Ace. Therefore, he was _very_ surprised when a rubber fist walloped him in the back of the head.

"You've gotten stronger!" Garp cried proudly, "You'll make great marines!"

" **No way!** " the boys yelled. None of them had noticed that Locks had left.

 **oOo**

Locks plodded along the trail, heading for Dadan's hideout. It had been a while since she'd visited, so the place was sure to be a mess.

 **oOo**

"Bwahahaha! You and your little friend will be-"

" **Shut up old man! She's going to join my** _ **pirate**_ **crew!** " the boys cut him off and started glaring at eachbother.

" **Your crew?** " they butted heads, and Garp tried to hit them both with a Fist of Love. Ace sensed it coming and jumped out of the way. However, he forgot that Luffy didn't have any form of Observation.

"Owowow!" the poor boy yelled as _both_ of his grandfather's fists crashed into his skull.

"Don't hit Luffy!" Ace roared running back towards Garp.

Under his breath, Luffy muttered "I wish Locks was here to zap Gramps again."

Garp let go of the front of Ace's shirt (he'd been about to give the disrespectful boy a beating). The three all looked around the clearing, but a certain girl was nowhere to be seen.

Suddenly, screams sounded in the distance. Ace and Luffy looked at each other.

"Dadan." They murmured, before racing off towards the hideout. After a moment of confusion, Garp started chasing them.

"I'm not done training you yet!" the Vice-Admiral yelled.

 **oOo**

Dadan kept the broom between her and Ace's crazy girlfriend (good thing Ace wasn't around to hear her think that). Locks ignored her, grabbing another broom and entering the sleeping room. Screams could be heard as frightened bandits ran out and away from the Cleaning Demon. A cloud of dust followed them out, and loud thumping noises could be heard as their bedding was beaten into submission.

With wide eyes, Dadan slowly backed away from the doorway, broom pointed towards the room in a vaguely threatening manner.

 **oOo**

Ace arrived first, grinning in amusement when he saw all the bandits milling around outside with nervous expressions. Their eyes darted about as if they expected a demon to appear from the bushes. Ace was happy to oblige them.

"Boo." He said simply as he walked into the clearing. There were various squeaks of fright, and one of them shrieked into his ear. He glared at the culprit before smirking as they shrunk back. All this over a girl who liked to clean?

"I thought Dadan liked kids who did their chores?" he said as innocently as he could, grin widening as they all shuddered collectively in fear.

Then Luffy arrived. The rubber boy looked around at everyone in confusion.

"It's just Locks." He said, "What are you all scared of?"

At that moment, Dadan was flooded out of the house by an avalanche of bubbles. She was still clutching her broom. Catching sight of Ace she shrieked "Take your crazy friend and get out of here!"

"Isn't that a bit rude?" he replied as he always did.

The bunch of bubbles began to grow bigger and bigger as it started heading towards them.


	19. Chapter 19

Garp found himself in the place where Dadan's hideout used to be. Now, it was just a pile of bubbles.

His grandson's new friend was standing beside the bubble pile holding a broom. With one hand, she made gestures over the bubbles. She was like some childish witch casting a spell. As she gestured, water came from some unseen source behind her (a stream. The bandits have to their water from somewhere!). The water came in the form of a thick ribbony tube that undulated like a snake. Slowly following the girl's gestured guidance, the water wound itself around and around the bubbles.

The bubbles began to dissolve, rinsed away to reveal cowering bandits. Garp blinked. The hideout was here after all. He thought he'd got lost. Now, where were his grandsons?

As if his thoughts had caused it, the girl waved her arm and the water washed away the last of the bubbles to reveal two very clean grinning black-haired boys.

 **oOo**

"That was so cool!" Luffy shouted, stars in his eyes as he looked at Locks. Ace smirked, looking around at everybody. Locks had shown some control of water before, but this was on a much bigger scale than he'd seen. Was there anything she couldn't do?

As soon as they were free, the sparklingly clean bandits rushed to hide inside their hideout. All except for Dadan, who was now pointing her broom at Garp.

"Dadan!" the Vice-Admiral said, "How have you been? Why didn't you send a message about their little friend?"

While he was distracted, Ace and Luffy sneaked away, Ace gesturing at Locks to do the same.

 **oOo**

Locks saw the boys sneak into the bushes, Hunter waving a hand at her in a signal that she ought to move too. She complied, leaving the crazy seagull man to intimidate the fire head.

 **oOo**

Garp broke off from his chattering to look around in confusion. Where had they got to _now_? Rude little brats, always running off. He'd show them!

To Dadan's intense relief, Garp went hunting for his grandsons instead of continuing the interrogation.

 **oOo**

The three wandered through the undergrowth, Ace quietly trying to explain to Locks what "seagull men" actually did, and what Luffy meant when he said he'd be King of the "thieving sailors". It was an . . . _interesting_ task trying to explain these things to a dragon. Dragons literally saw the world differently to normal people, with words being associated with images. If Ace said "marine" then Locks would instantly think of men with seagulls on their shirts. Hence "seagull men". However, if Ace said "seagull man", Locks would think of the word "marine". Reverse psychology at its best.

Ace was getting a headache, but at least he knew that Locks was actually listening to him. And she seemed to get the gist of it after a while, unlike Luffy who would simply label everything a mystery without trying to understand it. So, all in all, Ace felt it was worthwhile. He was also fervently hoping that the more time she spent with them, the more she would understand on her own without Ace having to help.

Suddenly, he saw Locks' eyes widen and she started sprinting. Then an all too familiar voice came from somewhere behind them.

"There you are!"

Ace quickly looked over his shoulder to see his grandfather barreling down on them. Shit! He'd let his guard down!

"Luffy, run!" he yelled, taking his own advice.

The three soon separated. Ace heard Garp chasing someone, but he didn't know if it was Locks or Luffy.

 **oOo**

Locks looked around wildly on the plateau she'd ended up on. Nowhere to hide!

"There you are." she heard behind her. She turned to see the crazy seagull man.

"Fist of Love!"

Locks dodged and went back to running for her life.

 **oOo**

Thankfully, this was one of Garp's shorter visits. He left at the end of the day, leaving his grandsons unfound and a very cross little dragon girl behind him.

Ace was madder than a hornet when the three met up again. Locks was covered in bruises. Ace began to angrily plot all the ways he would get back at Garp for hurting his friend, Luffy gladly joining in.

The Vice-Admiral better beware the next time he came to visit.


	20. Chapter 20

The next couple of months passed without much incident, Garp apparently not having enough time to come to Dawn Island.

One day, however, Ace realised that it had been a while since they'd been to town. And they'd collected a whole lot of skins from the animals they killed.

Time to make some money and have some fun.

 **oOo**

Once again, Locks felt herself being made to wear a cloak. She was then asked to help put a much bigger cloak on the hunters, because Ace was sitting on Luffy's shoulders for some reason. She was then 'volunteered' to carry all of those heavy skins on her head of all places. With difficulty, she manoeuvred the pile of said skins atop her head, arm out in an attempt to stop herself from falling over. From his perch on top of a miserable-sounding Luffy (if all his whining was anything to go by) Ace put out a hand, which he rested on top of the pelt pile to help steady it.

Ace realised that Locks had a really strong neck. And off they went to town.

 **oOo**

The people in this part of town thought nothing of a cloaked stranger and their small cloaked servant walking through. They didn't blink at the number of skins the stranger was bringing in. they did, however, make plans to steal the stranger's money when he was done.

Ace was perfectly aware of this. He was also perfectly aware that electrocution was an effective way to brings lots of people down in a small amount of time. He'd learnt by now that Locks was extra aggressive when threatened, even more so than he and Luffy could be. She seemed very protective of them . . . Ace was really glad that she was on their side.

They arrived at the usual place, where Ace and Sabo used to negotiate for the skins. A large, wolfish-looking dog came out to meet them, sniffing eagerly at the skins and growling at them with its tail high in the air to say 'I am the alpha here'. Locks growled back at the beast angrily. Another thing Ace had noticed was that she didn't like to be dominated. Though, for whatever reason, she did whatever Ace told her to do.

The dog's owner came out, an angry-looking man who glared at the 'two' people on his doorstep.

"Whaddya want." He spat. Ace refrained from wincing. Makino would have a fit if Ace ever dared talk like that.

Calmly, he said "How much would you be willing to pay for these?" He patted the pile on Locks' head. The man looked over the pile. Ace saw a gleam in his eye that meant nothing good. This man and his cohorts were the only ones who'd buy the pelts without too many questions, but they were not to be trusted. Eyeing his growling dog, the man said "Raver don't seem to think much of 'em, aye boy?"

The dog growled louder at the sound of its name, glaring deep into Locks' eyes. This wasn't going to end well, if Locks' hissing and spitting was anything to go by.

"I think they'd be worth a few beri, don't you agree?" Ace asked smoothly. The man had the nerve to laugh at him.

"These sorry scraps? HA! They ain't worth nothing." The man sneered. Ace narrowed his eyes, the action unseen beneath his hood. He'd seen the look in the man's eyes. He wanted a fair price, or as fair a price as possible.

"Oh, really?" he said questioningly, "Well, I suppose a man of your calibre wouldn't want them. I guess I'll just go somewhere else . . ."

Ace was bluffing, but the man didn't know have to know that. As expected, the crook held out his hands in a placating manner.

"Now, now, no need to be hasty. I'm just sayin' that these ain't the best I've seen. Right, Raver?" he said, dog growling in response.

Ace found himself getting irritated. He wished that guy would just hurry up and give them the money so they could leave.

At that moment, Locks' threw the pelts off her head and lunged at Raver.


	21. Chapter 21

_**No animals were actually harmed during the writing of this chapter. And yes,**_ **hanalulu _, the dog is going to get it._**

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

That beast had its hackles raised at her, tail up, glaring and growling at her. It thought that it was alpha. Locks was holding back, not wanting to cause any trouble. But the dog . . . she was getting increasingly frustrated.

The dog's owner wasn't helping. His aura swam with the colours of dishonesty as he talked down to the hunters. And he was _encouraging_ his beast. There was only so much she could take. She threw the pile on her head to the ground and leapt at the dog, fully intending to teach it its place.

 **oOo**

Ace stared at the writhing mass, ignoring the man yelling "Get 'em, Raver!"

Ace knew that Locks would win. It was just a dog after all. But Ace was puzzled by the fact that, rather than electrocuting the dog and being done with it, Locks was actually wrestling with it.

 **oOo**

Electrocution was too easy, Locks knew. If she truly wanted to prove her dominance over the creature, she had to beat it at its own game and _prove_ that _she_ was alpha, not some beast.

She could faintly hear the beast's master calling out in fright and surprise, 'Raver' growling and barking loudly in her ear as she came out on top, hands around the dog's neck. She slowly dug her fingers in, baring her teeth and letting out growls of her own as Raver struggled. She almost fell off, but held her position.

 **oOo**

Ace watched as Locks suddenly let go of Raver's neck and stood up, apparently having gotten whatever she wanted. The dog whimpered, slowly getting to its feet and frantically licking Locks hand, tail between its legs in submission.

Apart from being covered in dust, Locks seemed unharmed. Turning to the shell-shocked crook, Ace said "How does 1000 beri each sound?"

Staring in horror at the small person who'd beaten his huge dog, the man nodded frantically.

 **oOo**

Ace walked away (or rather, Luffy walked) with Locks in tow, grinning happily at his newly acquired 18, 000 beri.

"Are you alright?" he asked Locks. She shrugged, rubbing her arm.

"Just bruises. Will be fine."

He shook his head. Sometimes, she was just like an animal. Then again, she'd never claimed to be human . . .

Yep, Ace was really glad she was on their side.

 **oOo**

They moved to a better part of town, Ace getting off of Luffy's shoulders and both boys putting their own cloak on. The larger cloak was squirreled away in an over-sized pocket.

Luffy's stomach chose that moment to grumble loudly. Ace's stomach followed suit immediately after. The boys turned to stare as Locks' did the same. Ace sweat-dropped. He really hoped that he'd been imagining that. It was hard enough keeping himself and Luffy fed . . . Her stomach growled again. Ace went pale. This had never happened before. He didn't want it to happen. Oh, please don't let it be true!

 **oOo**

Luckily for Ace, his fears were unfounded. Locks only ate one plate of food before being satisfied. He and Luffy were still going.

 **oOo**

And now, for the classic dine-and-dash.


	22. Chapter 22

_**I am in a destructive mood . . .**_

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Women shrieked, men roared in anger. Pandemonium reigned supreme. Ace saw Luffy successfully race out the door as a certain dragon set a tablecloth on fire.

How did this happen? Well . . .

 **oOo**

The diner was crowded, filled with the sonorous sound of many voices speaking. Ace figured that it would be easier to get away unnoticed from place like this. He didn't count on the vigilance of the staff, however. While Ace had sort of forgotten all about it, this was the same place they'd dashed from last time they'd visited town. After that incident, staff were wary of a group of three cloaked kids.

So, just as Ace and co. got up to leave, two waiters rushed over, grabbing Ace and Locks (Luffy dived under the table). Ace was merely surprised. Locks, on the other hand, yelped in pain as the waiter grabbed hold of her arm. Her immediate reaction after yelping was to bite the waiter. This did not go down well.

The man yelled, frightening several nearby women into shrieking loudly, which in turn set off all the women nearby to them, and so on like dominoes. Men all over the diner started yelling angrily demanding to know what had frightened their partners. Tables were tipped over as these men stood up, causing plates and cutlery to fall to the floor with clatters and clangs. The diner was soon like a maze, one that Luffy took advantage of to escape.

As he did that, the waiter holding Ace let go in order to help his fellows attempt to subdue an angry little dragon. Locks was not impressed, and reacted accordingly. A tablecloth on the ground caught fire as she huffed at it. This in turn set several other tablecloths on fire. Ace used that distraction to hide under the table, watching Locks closely.

Clearly, Locks didn't mean for it all to go so far, if the scowl on her face was anything to go by. Water, in glasses and otherwise, suddenly swished through the air towards Locks. Thus, the fires were extinguished. The waiters once again tried to grab her. She electrocuted them. The shock caused them to let go of her and she dashed out the door, followed closely by Ace. Ace couldn't stop staring. What a destructive little girl.

He grinned. The looks on the faces of the staff had been _priceless_. Besides, it's not like she permanently damaged anything apart from the tablecloths. She'd just given a whole lot of people a fright, that's all. Although, Ace was going to try to avoid that kind of thing in the future, no matter how funny it was. It was too bothersome to cause mass panic all the time.

 **oOo**

After running a safe distance away, Ace turned back and realised something: Where was Luffy?

He turned around.

Where was Locks? She'd been in front of him, hadn't she? Both of them had been-

His eyes widened. Dammit! He'd lost both of them!

Ace started running, because they couldn't be that far ahead of him, right?


	23. Chapter 23

Luffy wandered around the marketplace, ignoring the hubbub going on around him. He felt like he was forgetting something. Oh well. He started picking pockets (Ace and Sabo taught him how), which was something he was very good at.

 **oOo**

Locks was _not_ in the best of moods. First that stupid dog bruised her arm, then those guys in suits grabbed her, and now she was lost. She comforted herself with the fact that if she was lost, Luffy was guaranteed to be as well, so she wouldn't be the only one Ace would be upset with.

It was dark in this part of town, despite the sun shining overhead. She felt rather than saw people lurking in the alleyways. Suddenly, her way ahead was blocked by a crush of bodies. She looked up. A man sneered down at her. She turned around and started back the way she came. But then that way was blocked too. Locks' eyebrow started to twitch.

 **oOo**

Luffy hid in a barrel as the guards ran past. Someone had noticed him pick-pocketing and set the silly uniformed guys on him.

"Shishishi." He laughed quietly. They'd never find him here.

 **oOo**

Ace paused in his frantic searching for a moment as his ears caught a sound that, for some reason, struck a chord with him. He hesitantly went towards the noise.

 **oOo**

"Where is he?" one of the men asked. Locks looked at him blankly, not understanding. The man clarified, saying "The man you were with. Where is he?"

What man? Locks tilted her head to one side in incomprehension. Then she realised that they probably wanted to see that man with the dog. Well, they could go find him themselves! She waved her arm vaguely in a random direction. Several of the men left, but most of them were still blocking her way. So much for that plan. The same man spoke again.

"Well, while they're taking care of that . . ." the man gave her a nasty smile. She was really starting to hate this guy.

". . . I think it's time we have a little fun. What do you think, kid?" every other man smiled that same nasty smile. She huffed her breath out her nose. These guys really needed to take a bath.

 **oOo**

Ace stayed where the busker couldn't see him, listening carefully to the song. Then the final notes played on the breeze.

Ace was not often disposed to charity. But something about the song stirred him. He riffled through his pockets, coming up with a few coins (he wasn't going to give the pelt money away) and he dropped these into the guy's hat as he quickly walked past. He didn't look at the busker, but he heard the guy give a soft thank-you. Ace smiled involuntarily for a brief instant, before remembering that Locks and his little brother were still unfound.

"Dammit." He muttered. Where the hell could they be?

 **oOo**

Luffy was bored. He'd stowed away his 'findings' securely in his pockets and no guards seemed to be about. Ace was probably looking for him too. Oh! A light bulb went off above Luffy's head. That's right, he'd forgotten that Ace would be worried. Shishishi . . . shi. He was in so much trouble!


	24. Chapter 24

"How hard can it be to catch one kid?!"

Locks had miraculously escaped the clutches of the men, and was now running a guerrilla war against them. They'd spread out to look for her, which wasn't exactly the smartest choice.

 _ **Zap!**_

Another one went down, twitching uncontrollably.

 **oOo**

Luffy sneaked through the alleyways, looking for Locks. Why? Because a) she wasn't Ace, b) she wasn't Ace, and c) if he was going to be yelled at by Ace, he wanted moral support. In other words, Luffy didn't want to be lectured alone.

He nearly tripped over an unconscious thug, one of the weak sort that even he could take on alone. The thug was twitching all over. Good. That meant that Luffy was on the right track.

 **oOo**

Locks pressed herself flat against the wall, being very, very quiet and very, very still. Several of the men went by, causing Locks to wrinkle her nose in disgust at their scent. Listening carefully, she judged the alley to be clear. She howled, long and low, the eerie sound sending shivers up the spines of her prey.

It wasn't often that Locks got to hunt. The animals in the forest didn't count. For dragons, the hunt was a game of wits against your fellows. It was their version of hide and seek.

Ace and Luffy didn't like to be hunted. Luffy found it boring, and Ace didn't like having to deal with a bored brother as well as avoiding random lightning strikes. But these men had started the hunt, so Locks saw no problem with playing.

She smiled as her howl was answered by another. Her summons had been heard.

 **oOo**

Luffy heard a familiar howl. Locks was playing her silly game again. Then he heard another howl, one that he didn't know. He scowled. Locks had made a new friend? When did that happen? Now Luffy wanted to meet them. He hurried in the direction of the first sound, ignoring another twitching thug.

 **oOo**

"Little brat. Where is that damn kid?" he heard a growl just as he said that. He looked up. Wow, that was a big dog. The dog growled again, taking a step forward. Dim alarms began to sound in the back of the man's mind, telling him that maybe, just _maybe_ it would be a good idea to start running.

 **oOo**

Luffy found Locks just in time to see her use what Luffy liked to call her 'Thunder Fist'. Her crackling knuckles slammed into a very sensitive part of the male anatomy, causing the thug to sink to his knees, eyes bulging, hair standing on end as he fainted.

Before he ate his devil fruit, Luffy remembered that being hit there used to hurt a lot. Ace must have taught her that trick, because Luffy couldn't remember doing it while Locks was around.

There was a second thug, staring in horror.

"Gum-Gum . . ."

The thug slowly looked at him.

"Pistol!"

 _ **Crunch!**_

Luffy's fist met the man's nose. The man's eyes rolled back into his head as he joined his fellow on the ground.

Luffy held up a hand to Locks. She stared at it for a moment before suddenly slapping it. Something else Ace had taught her, the high-five. Luffy grinned, then remembered why he was here.

"Are you _done_." He said. A screaming man ran past them, a familiar-looking dog attached to his ass. Staring after the pair, Locks said "I done now."

"Ace is gonna kill us." Luffy said bluntly.

"Why would Ace kill us?"

"'Cos we got lost."

Locks shrugged.

"His fault for not keeping up when we run out of food-place."

Luffy had a light bulb moment. He grinned his signature grin.

"Then let's go find him!" he yelled enthusiastically before running off. Knowing how much trouble he could get into when alone, Locks was quick to follow.

 **oOo**

Ace let out a sigh of relief when he saw Luffy running with Locks hard on his heels.

"Wait up!" he yelled. His little brother skidded to a stop. His dragon lightly leaped to the side, gracefully coming to rest at Luffy's side rather than running into him.

"Ace!" Luffy shouted happily.

"Hunter!" Locks said loudly with a smile.

 **oOo**

"Leave me alone you dumb dog!"

The man continued to run through the shadowy streets, Raver still attached to his butt.


	25. Chapter 25

_**50 reviews! Yahoo!**_ **Ainums _:_ _To answer your question . . . I am currently writing chapter 29. I still have a few ideas and scenes in mind, so I think that this will be about 40-50 chapters, maybe less._  
**

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

"There you are brat!" a guard yelled, catching sight of Luffy.

"What did you do?" Ace asked curiously. A wallet was shoved in his face in lieu of an answer. Ace grinned.

"How many did you get?"

"Lots!"

The guard was getting closer, and was being joined by more guards.

"We start running now?" Locks asked.

Ace looked at the gathering of approaching guards.

"You bet." He answered.

The three took off in a cloud of dust, prompting the guards to begin their best imitation of a sprint while yelling things like "Get back here you little rebels!" and "Damn renegades!", which in turn reminded Ace of the song he'd heard. Right now, however, escape was the order of the day.

 **oOo**

After this casual exit, they headed to Fuchsia like they had last time.

 **oOo**

There weren't any customers at Party's bar when three cloaked children arrived, so Makino had no qualms about closing. She turned to the three with a smile as they lowered their hoods.

"Luffy! Ace! It's good to see you both. Your name is Locks, isn't it?" Makino said to the other girl in the room. Shuffling behind Ace, the girl nodded warily in reply.

Her two favourite boys had brought the girl with them last time, but she'd been so skittish that Makino had only just got her name while getting zapped. It didn't hurt (Ace told her that Locks was holding back on her), but it was a little disconcerting all the same. Makino smiled gently at the girl. Maybe this time she'd get to know Locks better.

 **oOo**

With a little coaxing from Ace, Locks was persuaded to go within a metre of Makino. The older boy watched worriedly, hoping that things would go a little more smoothly this time. Luffy wandered off into the kitchen.

While Makino didn't think that 'Luffy' and 'kitchen' were a good combination, she continued to stand still, smiling at Locks and generally making herself non-threatening. She found the situation to be very similar to when Luffy had first 'introduced' her to Ace, except that Ace didn't growl or make lightning.

"Makino is not going to hurt you." Ace said, slightly exasperated. Locks still looked unsure, staring up at Makino's face. Finally . . .

"Hello." Locks said quietly. Makino beamed.

"Hello. I'm Makino." She held out a hand. Locks stared at it for a moment, then shook it firmly. As soon as Makino let go, Locks took a step back and glanced towards the kitchen.

 _ **Crash!**_

 **oOo  
** The three hurried towards the noise. They found Luffy on the floor with his foot stuck in a container and his head inside a jar. He was making incoherent sounds while ineffectually banging the jar with a pot. Makino put a hand to her mouth and stifled a giggle. Ace frowned, saying "Luffy" in a disappointed voice. Locks just sighed. She stood on Luffy's stomach and pulled on the jar, water forcing itself out of a nearby tap and lubricating Ace's rubber brother.

 _ **Pop!**_

Makino caught Locks as the girl tumbled backwards with the jar clutched in her hands. Ace pulled the container off of Luffy's foot while Makino brushed invisible dust off Locks.

"Are you all right?" the green-haired woman asked. Locks nodded mutely, inspecting the inside of the jar. She sneezed.

"What you want with pepper *achoo*?" she asked Luffy. Ace stared at his brother in disbelief while Makino giggled again.

It would seem that Locks had gotten over her wariness, because she turned to Makino and said "Luffy very silly sometimes, isn't he?"

Makino had to agree.


	26. Chapter 26

Makino smiled, wiping a hand across her forehead.

"It's ready!" she called.

She was immediately beset by the two black holes. Locks followed the brothers with a serene air. Locks could brawl with the best of them, but it seemed she usually preferred to be at the side watching the boys calmly. The girl wasn't nearly as rambunctious compared with the boys, although she could easily give the village children a run for their money. Makino giggled at the thought.

Makino watched fondly as the three dug in, Locks slowly eating her way through two plates (which unnerved Ace for some reason) while the brothers fought over their respective meals. Makino was quick to notice that neither boy dared to steal from Locks . . . which was understandable since it seemed the girl was quick to shock.

 **oOo**

The food was finished, the plates piled high. Makino watched curiously as Locks carried the plates into the kitchen . . .

Ten minutes later, every plate was washed and stacked before a startled bartender. She turned to the boys, but they didn't seem to find the display the slightest bit odd. Makino could have squealed in delight. Here was someone who spoke her language. While the boys once again started a fight over something stupid, the bartender took Locks to the side to have a little talk . . .

 _ **Thud!**_

Makino quickly turned around, seeing that Ace was having one of his fits. Out of nowhere, Luffy produced a marker pen. Shaking her head, Makino turned back to Locks.

 **oOo**

"What did Makino talk to you about?" Luffy asked curiously, rubbing a bump on his head. Locks shrugged.

"She want to talk about cleaning and feeding and healing. She say you two a lot of trouble, that I have to take care of you."

"Oh." Luffy said. Ace hummed, his freckles connected by colourful lines (courtesy of Luffy).

It was dark, since they hadn't thought to leave Fuchsia until just before sunset. Locks was lighting the way, her right hand glowing and crackling faintly as she held it up. Luffy turned to Ace.

"What are you humming."

"Just some song."

Locks turned to face Ace, her eyes alight.

"Song?" she asked hopefully. Ace looked at the younger children disconcertedly as he realised what they wanted.

"No. I'm not singing."

"Why not?" Luffy whined.

"I can't sing."

"How you know that?" Locks retorted. Ace opened his mouth to reply, but he couldn't think of anything. So he shut his mouth again and just kept walking. The other two looked disappointed.

 **oOo**

Ace's hands fidgeted with his cloak. Luffy wasn't making a racket like he usually did, so it was too quiet. Neither of the other two had said a word since he'd refused to sing, and now he was feeling guilty. He groaned inwardly.

 **oOo**

 _Run away-ay with me  
Lost souls in revelry  
Running wild and running free  
Three* kids, you and me_

Ace sang very quietly, embarrassed, the song he'd heard in town. He felt the others perk up and listen.

 _And I said hey  
Hey, hey, hey  
Living like we're renegades  
Hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey  
Living like we're renegades  
Renegades, renegades  
_

Locks began to hum softly along with him.

 _Long live the pioneers  
Rebels and mutineers  
Go forth and have no fear  
Come close and lend an ear  
_

As he started on the chorus, he began to sing louder, a smile slowly making its home on his face.

 _And I said hey  
Hey, hey, hey  
Living like we're renegades  
Hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey  
Living like we're renegades  
Renegades, renegades_

Luffy was singing along, very, very quietly, so that Ace was the loudest. By some instinct, both Luffy and Locks seemed to know the words as the girl began to join in.

 _So, all hail the underdogs  
All hail the new kids  
All hail the outlaws  
Spielbergs and Kubricks_

 _It's our time to make a move_  
 _It's our time to make amends_  
 _It's our time to break the rules_  
 _Let's begin..._

The clearing around the treehouse became visible in the glow from Locks' hand as they all sang together.

 _And I said hey_

 _Hey, hey, hey_

 _Living like we're renegades  
Hey, hey, hey  
Hey, hey, hey  
Living like we're renegades  
Renegades, renegades_

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 _ ***Two (I made it three because there are three of them) Lyrics from X Ambassadors, from the song 'Renegades'.**_


	27. Chapter 27

Locks lay curled up in the treehouse in her dragon form, ignoring the rubber boy bouncing off the walls worriedly, grunting occasionally as he slammed into her side. Outside, the clouds threatened rain.

Ace had 'gone for a walk', leaving Locks to watch over his little brother. For the third day in a row. Sure, the older boy came back each night, but he was always gone before dawn. Locks was exhausted.

She was doing her best to get some sleep as Luffy (for once) seemed content with staying in the same place (inside the treehouse). But all this bouncing . . .

" _Sssssop . . ._ " she hissed, to no avail. The bouncing continued. What was wrong with him?!

With an angry growl, she snapped her teeth. Luffy didn't notice, muttering under his breath.

At the end of her considerably long tether (Ace would have snapped hours ago) Locks changed into her half form, swinging her clubbed tail like a bat to redirect the rubber boy before he could collide with her head. He became jammed between some shelves in a corner. Locks sighed in relief, changing back into a dragon and about to continue her nap when Luffy yelled.

"Ugh! What am I going to get Ace for his birthday?!"

 **oOo**

Locks didn't know what a birthday was. Luffy gave her a hurried terrible explanation, told her that Ace didn't like his birthday, then went back to worrying, still jammed between the shelves. Locks asked how he knew Ace's birthday was coming up. Luffy muttered unhelpfully about New Year's. Locks asked why he was worrying about it if Ace didn't like his birthday in the first place. The rubber boy muttered something about being grateful.

Locks decided to ask Ace about it later. Luffy, as if reading her mind, made her promise not to tell Ace that he was going to get the older boy a present. Locks shrugged, and went back to sleep while Luffy fretted in his newfound niche.

 **oOo**

Makino, under the impression that Ace had got into an argument with the younger two, kicked him out earlier than usual and demanded that he go home and make up.

Ace took his time going back to the treehouse. Knowing Luffy, the younger boy was probably plotting something. He just didn't seem to get that Ace didn't want to celebrate the day he was born. That was why Ace had been avoiding him, leaving him with Locks knowing that the girl didn't know anything about birthdays (Luffy had asked her once, but a bear had interrupted before she could answer. She had, however, looked absolutely baffled.)

 _ **Grumble!**_

The sky muttered crossly, rain beginning to spit down, causing Ace to pick up his pace.

 **oOo**

Ace stood in the entrance to the treehouse, staring. Locks and Luffy were both asleep. Luffy was jammed between some shelves. There were various dents and scuff marks all over the walls. What had they been up to while he was gone?

Well, admittedly, Ace was feeling a little tired too. And wet. He took a step-

Locks quickly grabbed the back of Ace's shirt in her jaws before he face planted on the floor. She brought him closer to her, leaning the damp narcoleptic boy safely against her side. With a sigh, she settled herself back to sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

When Ace recovered from his fit, he found himself lying against something warm, and he was mostly dry. He blearily sat up, realising that he'd been propped up against Locks. He absentmindedly stroked the soft scales of her dragon form in the darkness. Was it night already?

 _ **Growr!**_

The sky roared with thunder. Ace heard a whimpering, his little brother awakened by the storm. He carefully made his way around Locks (she didn't take kindly to being tripped over) to Luffy. With a mighty heave, he pulled Luffy out of the shelves, stumbling back against Locks as his brother came free. She grunted, shifting with a faint rustle as she raised her head around to look at him. He gave her a sheepish smile, pulling Luffy into his lap. The younger boy clung to his shirt, whimpering as the sky roared again, burying his head into Ace's chest.

"Sshh . . ." Ace whispered. Locks' head came down, and she sniffed at the frightened boy in his arms. Her rainbow-swirling eyes peered at the pair of them, and she seemed to snort, not that Ace could tell since the rain was so loud.

 **oOo**

Ace continued to comfort Luffy. Locks had changed into her half-form, and was sitting in the doorway eyeing the raging elements with her wings half open. Ace could see the edge of her smile each time lightning split the skies, her tail swishing in excitement. So, she liked storms. Ace found that oddly . . . fitting.

Ace used to love storms, the way the wind tossed the sea and rain drummed into the earth, the way lightning lit everything up in brilliance for a single moment. He and Sabo used to sit watching the sky wreak its fury, while teasing Luffy for hiding behind them. But now that Sabo was gone, Ace found that storms didn't quite have the same appeal as they used to. He held his shivering little brother tight, watching as Locks held out her hand to the wild rain.

 **oOo**

The knowledge of dragons is passed down genetically, though no one knows how. Hatchlings come into the world with the history of their species locked in their minds. As they grow older, more and more of this knowledge is fed to them from this hidden trove. But while they are young, the hatchling knows next to nothing, so the elder dragons are free to tell their tales without being interrupted. One such tale was the legend of the Queen of Thunder.

The mighty leader of the Lightning tribe before the Great Split, the Queen of Thunder was said to be able to control and create the very storms whose thunder named her. Her lightning was so powerful that it was said to able to destroy kingdoms in an instant. She led her tribe well so they were able to take victory from the Spectre tribe. No matter that the Tribe of Spells had orchestrated thw war for their amusement. The Queen of Thunder was still a great leader, and had been given the honour of being the tribe's celestial being.

The dragons say that to revel in the fury of the storm is to be one step closer to the Queen of Thunder and all her glory. Locks hummed, smiling in delight as the skies brought their havoc. Softly, she sang to the storm. Whether or not the Queen of Thunder had ever been as great as her people made her out to be was debateable. But that didn't stop one young dragon from enjoying her legacy.

 **oOo**

Ace blinked, wondering if he was hearing things, but the sound continued.

 _One step clo-ser . . ._

Luffy stilled slightly, listening.

 _I have died every day, waiting for you_

 _Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you_

Luffy's death grip on Ace's shirt loosened slightly.

 _For a thou-sand years, I'll love you for a thou-sand more . . ._

As Locks sang to the storm for whatever odd reason, Ace felt Luffy go to sleep on his lap. He smiled, ruffling the younger boy's hair, listening to Locks' soft voice. She wasn't half-bad.

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 **Locks has a Christmas special! It's called 'Locks Christmas', and will have twelve chapters when finished, so go to my profile and check it out!**

 **I'm going on hiatus (when the special is finished) for Christmas and because I'm going to be on holiday for most of January. So Locks, and my other stories, aren't going to be updated until late Jan/early February.**

 **Merry Christmas to all my readers, and a Happy New Year too. Have a good holiday season.**

 **-Albertastein**


	29. Chapter 29

_**Locks Christmas is complete if you want to go to my profile and check that out. As school is starting soon and I don't want to eat too much into my buffer zone, updates won't be nearly as fast as they were last year. But I'll try to update once or twice a week.**_

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Luffy's first thought on waking up was: Is the storm over?

His second thought was: What was I so worried about?

He carefully disentangled himself from his sleeping older brother, sitting on the floor blinking.

His third thought was: It's Ace's birthday next week . . . . AAAAHH! I haven't got him a present yet!

Luffy rushed out of the treehouse with uncharacteristic quietness, sneaking through the gap between Locks and the doorframe.

He didn't notice her eyes opening to narrow slits as her scent reached her nose. He didn't know that she heard him muttering under his breath "Got to get a present." He'd even forgotten that he would want breakfast (shock! Horror! Luffy forgot to eat!).

As Luffy left, Locks was reminded of how she wanted to ask Ace about his birthday. But she decided to get some food first, because the older boy would be hungry when he woke up. She didn't bother worrying about Luffy. As long as the rubber boy stayed away from crocodiles and pointy objects, he'd be fine.

 **oOo**

Ace didn't eat as much as Luffy. This was a fact, something that Locks had observed during her time with the boys. Due to having a rubber stomach, Luffy was able to not only consume more in one sitting, but also to continuously add to this throughout the day. He had a ridiculously fast metabolism too, but that wasn't the point.

Ace ate less in one sitting, and tended to snack throughout the day (though not as often as Luffy, by a slim margin). Therefore, Locks knew that she didn't need an entire bear or crocodile or other large animal to feed just Ace. A few dozen snakes would do. Luckily, none of the snakes on the island were poisonous or large enough to hurt Luffy. It would be a pain if Luffy had to be retrieved from snakes as well as crocodiles all the time.

Locks shook herself out of such depressing thoughts and focused on trying to find some snakes.

 **oOo**

Ace woke up to the wonderful smell of roasting meat. He opened his eyes, blinking rapidly. Where was Luffy?

The marvellous smell assaulted him once more. The little rubber idiot was probably eating already. Ace's eyes widened. He'd eat it all!

 **oOo**

Ace needn't have worried about his meat. Luffy was nowhere to be seen. He climbed down from the treehouse, and threw out his hands in protection as a long bendy piece of meat was thrown at him. He juggled the hot roasted snake in his hands, looking up to see Locks tending to several more. She had one in her own hand, tearing pieces off every now and then with her teeth.

Ace grinned and started eating. For _once_ , he wasn't going to have to fight Luffy for food.

 **oOo**

When the food was finished, the skeletons were thrown into the fire. While Ace hadn't asked about Luffy yet, Locks had her own question.

"Hunter?" she said questioningly.

"Mmm?" he hummed in reply.

"Why don't you like your birthday?"

She froze as Ace stiffened.

". . . Why do you ask?" Ace said after a while.

"Luffy." She replied simply. Ace slowly nodded, looking deep in thought . . .

 **oOo**

Sabo and Luffy found out Ace's identity, and had then kept it a secret.

Sabo was dead, and this was one thing that Luffy would never tell _anyone_.

Ace . . . it had never occurred to Ace to tell Locks. Though truth be told, he'd been avoiding telling her. She'd known who the King of the Pirates was even before Ace explained Luffy's dream. To Locks, the Pirate King was "The Great Hoarder", referring to the enormous treasure he was believed to have amassed. The man had apparently found some way to fly into the sky and meet some dragons in his travels, according to what Locks called her 'Materna Memories'.

She had said that she thought that the 'Great Hoarder' was greedy to want all that gold, though she hadn't connected it with piracy until he'd told her that looting was a typical pirate pastime. Ace didn't want her to think badly of him . . .

He fidgeted, not wanting to tell her.


	30. Chapter 30

_**I did say one or twice a week, so here's another update since I've finished a couple of buffer chapters.**_

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

Locks waited for a few minutes, watching Ace's panic-stricken face. He seemed to be off in his own little world . . . he looked like he was about to cry. Locks blinked. Ace, cry? It didn't fit with what she'd seen of him . . . but the watery glaze that he kept trying to blink away was pretty obvious to her.

He wasn't going to answer. That much was clear. With a sigh, Locks got to her feet.

"I go look for Luffy before he gets in too much trouble." She stated, beginning to walk away.

 **oOo**

She said something, though Ace didn't hear what, the sound of her voice snapping him out of his daze. He whipped his head around to see her walking away and-

"Wait!" he said, panicking. She stopped, turning to look at him with a frown. He couldn't meet her eyes, so he looked at the ground instead and began to fiddle with the grass. He heard her come back towards him, the faint rustling as she got to her knees and tried to peer at his face.

"What's wrong?" she asked. If only she knew . . .

This was Locks, for pete's sake! She was like his sister, as close to him as Luffy was, even if she hadn't shared in that cup of sake. If Luffy would never tell, she wouldn't either! But . . . Ace still hesitated.

 **oOo**

He sat there, silent again. Locks waited. Minutes passed once more, and she was beginning to get impatient. If he didn't want to tell her, then . . .

She opened her mouth to say it didn't matter, that he didn't have to tell her, and to suggest that they go find Luffy. She closed her mouth tight shut when Ace took a deep shuddering breath and blurted out in a low voice "I'm the son of Gol D. Roger."

Ace then froze up, looking guilty. Locks stared at him, confused as he continued, his body stiff. He said a lot of things that she wasn't ever going to repeat. His fingers started to tear at the ground, and the way he spoke was as if he thought that she was mad at him for some reason. He was speaking faster and faster, his words becoming difficult for her to understand, but she got the gist of it.

He hated himself. He believed that he deserved to die. He believed that the world would be better off if he had never been born . . . which was why he hated his birthday. Locks tilted her head to one side, eyes narrowing.

 **oOo**

 _ **Bonk!**_

Ace stopped talking, head jerking up as he stared at an angry-looking Locks. His eyes widened as she said crossly "'Tis not our sires who determine who we are."

He kept staring as she continued, looking like she wanted to hit him again.

"You are son of Great Hoarder. Big deal. You still Ace. Stop yelling at yourself."

He opened his mouth to say something, not understanding. She let out a sigh, the anger visibly draining out of her. Suddenly, she threw her arms around him in a tight hug. He squeaked, startled. She muttered under her breath, just barely loud enough for him to hear, "You are Ace. You are big brother to Luffy. You are my best friend. You _not_ monster."

Like an after-thought, she added "If you call yourself monster again, I zap you."

Ace couldn't help it. He started to cry. It didn't matter though, because Locks wasn't going to tell anyone.


	31. Chapter 31

Luffy walked through Grey Terminal with uncharacteristic caution. He hadn't been here since the fire . . .

It had been months since the fire burned the smelly trash to ashes, which was plenty of time for the noble's rubbish to start piling up once more. Luffy and his brothers used to find all kinds of interesting stuff before Sabo . . .

Anyway, Luffy was hoping that among the kingdom's trash, he could find a treasure for Ace's birthday.

 **oOo**

Ace frantically tried to hold back his tears, Locks sitting beside him. But his tears kept coming. He was being a crybaby, and he _hated_ it. A dim light flashed in the corner of his eye, and warm breath blew down on his hair. He slowly looked up, seeing that Locks had changed into her dragon form, silvery scales shining as her strange rainbow eyes watched him.

She made a low rumbling sound, nuzzling his forehead with her beak-like nose. Then she curled around him, as if she was going to sleep. Ace didn't mind. He hiccupped, stroking her soft scales. He felt really, really tired for some reason . . . and it wasn't his narcolepsy.

Forgetting all about Luffy's whereabouts, Ace leaned against Locks' side. Soon he was asleep.

 **oOo**

Something bright caught Luffy's eye. He turned to look, noting the colour. Ace liked orange, or at least Luffy _thought_ he liked orange. He really ought to pay more attention to other people, or so Makino had said on occasion.

Luffy carefully made his way towards it, un-burying the hat from the trash. He smiled. Ace would love this! But something was missing. Holding Ace's present close, Luffy kept on searching.

 **oOo**

Locks watched Ace as he slept, brushing away the tears with the tip of her wing (dragons are quite dextrous whatever their form). Honestly, she never would have guessed that someone like Ace had such low . . . what was the word? Self-regard? No. Self-worth? No. Self-something, and Ace apparently didn't have much of it.

He'd kept repeating how people thought so very little of his father, of how the people who ran the world wanted him dead. She snorted. Let them try. They would learn that it is not wise to raise a dragon's ire. Dragons were so often portrayed as bringers of chaos and destruction, but only because the foolish two-legs wouldn't leave the nests alone. The only way to steal an egg is to kill the mother. To kill the mother is to invite the wrath of the clan down on your head.

The dragon growled darkly. This was her clan. It was small and strange, but it was hers. Let them come. She may be a runt, but even a runt can bite.

Ace stirred in his sleep. Locks hummed softly, nuzzling his arm. He shifted slightly, but settled back into his slumber. Locks hummed.

 **oOo**

Luffy had found a skull. His eyes were starry as he looked at it.

"Awesome . . ." he breathed.

Luffy had also found a leather band with two blue faces on it. One was smiling, the other frowned. However, the faces weren't nearly as interesting as the skull.

The hat would be _so cool_ if he could stick the skull and the faces on it . . . Light-bulb.

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Luffy had just had an idea.


	32. Chapter 32

A couple of days later, Locks found herself sitting in the treehouse alone, staring at the objects in her lap with her head tilted to one side in confusion.

Luffy had produced the objects randomly out of thin air that morning, after first dangling Ace out of the treehouse with a rubber arm. Luffy had shoved the objects at Locks and said "Present!" in an excited tone before abruptly falling out of the treehouse and turning himself into a balloon to break Ace's fall . . . unsuccessfully.

Ace had not been impressed when his face met the ground.

The boys were now off to who-knows-where, Ace chasing after his little brother with loud threats and curses, leaving Locks to ponder her task.

Presumably, Luffy wanted her to do something to turn the strange items into a present for Ace. Locks turned the ridiculously bright orange hat over in her hands, wondering what she could do with it and the . . . wyvern skull? Where on earth had Luffy found a wyvern skull?

 **oOo**

Luffy raced through the undergrowth, a cloud of dust and an enraged sibling behind him. Maybe he could have been a bit more careful when he dropped Ace out of the treehouse . . . but where was the fun in that? Ace needed to be distracted so that his present would be a surprise. What was a better way to distract him than 'motivating' him to play tag?

"Shishishi!" Luffy laughed, hand clamped on his special straw hat to keep it from blowing away as he ran at a ridiculously fast pace in an effort to escape Ace.

 **oOo**

After much rummaging, Locks found a needle and some stiff thread. She could do something with this, couldn't she?

She looked between the skull and the hat, and sighed. She couldn't think of any way that she could sew the skull to the hat without shattering the bone into pieces.

 _Seriously,_ where did he get the wyvern skull from?

Shaking her head, she turned her attention to the third item Luffy had given her. Two blue faces, one smirking, the other sad, looked at her. They were attached to a leather strap . . .

"Uh-huh." She muttered, picking both the strap and the eye-searing hat up.

"I know . . ." she murmured, picking up her needle and thread.

 **oOo**

Tree!

Luffy leapt off the track into the undergrowth. So focused was Ace on catching the rubber boy, Ace didn't notice the tree until it was too late.

A loud _**thud**_ told Luffy that his brother was having an intense meeting with the aforementioned tree. He peered out of the bushes, trying to see if Ace was alright-

"GOTCHA!" Ace yelled, hands locking around Luffy's throat.

"This time I really will kill you . . ." the older boy growled lowly as the younger boy squirmed.

 _On the bright side . . ._ Luffy thought, _he's distracted._

Because Luffy always looks on the bright side, even when he's being strangled.

 **oOo**

The hat now sat on the ground in front of Locks, leering up at her with its two new blue faces now that she sewn the leather strap to it. She stared back at the hat, slightly unnerved, wondering if Ace would like his 'present'. She looked at the wyvern skull.

How was she going to attach it to the hat? She started searching the treehouse for something she could use.


	33. Chapter 33

Ace dropped his little brother when the boy started turning blue. He figured that that kind of thing wasn't healthy. Standing over Luffy as the rubber boy coughed, he said "Repeat after me: I will not drop my older brother out of a tree."

"I will not drop Ace out of the treehouse." Luffy said blankly, his voice a little raspy. Then he smiled for some mysterious Luffy-reason.

"I will not cause my older brother to run into trees either." Ace said firmly.

"I won't make Ace run into trees in the middle of the path." Luffy said, still smiling.

"Good," Ace said, "now I will take mercy on you and _not_ strangle you to death as I am so sorely tempted to do."

"You're using big words." Luffy said, making a face. Ace mimicked him, saying "Yeah, I know. It's Makino's fault."

Luffy nodded, this making perfect sense to him. the two boys started back the way they had come, stomachs growling. Chuckling sheepishly, they looked at each other and wordlessly resolved to do some hunting on the way back.

 **oOo**

Locks, via a long roundabout process that I will not describe for fear of electrocution, was all tangled up in a long leather strip that she'd found. She was dangling above the treehouse upside down, wielding a pair of scissors and some needle and thread. The neon orange hat was on her head, defying gravity despite gravity's best efforts.

Not only was it mysteriously attached to her head, but thanks to the blue circles she'd attached earlier it also had eyes to see her with. Right now, she was attempting to cut a length of the leather strip she was tangled up in without making herself fall out of the tree. She was going to use the leather to attach the wyvern skull to the hat . . . Locks was starting to fear the hat, quite frankly. A gravity-defying hat with eyes and a wyvern skull was just plain creepy as far as she was concerned.

She wondered what kind of wyvern the skull had come from. Depending on the species of the wyvern when it had been alive, the skull could give its owner (or wearer, in this case) all kinds of things (according to draconian superstition at any rate).

Locks resolved to herself that, when this hat and birthday business had blown over, she was going wyvern hunting. She'd yet to see any during her time with the boys, but, you never knew . . .

 **oOo**

An unfortunate bear happened to wander across the path of two hungry D.'s

"Yay!" Luffy said loudly. He couldn't wait for them to get back to the treehouse so Locks could cook it up.

At the thought of Locks, Luffy had the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something . . . oh well.

He started to help Ace drag the bear carcass.

 **oOo**

 _ **Snip . . . Snip . . .**_

 _ **Thud! Crash! Thump!**_

 _ **Thud . . .**_

Locks sat up with a groan. In one hand she held a needle, some thread, and a leather strip. In the other, she held a small horned skull and a pair of scissors. Leaves and bits of bit drifted down on top of her.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked innocently.

Locks' eyes widened as she realised Ace was there. Slowly, she reached up with one hand to feel for the hat.

It was no longer on top of her head. Huh.

Eyes fixed on Ace, who was looking at her oddly, she reached behind her, her fingers brushing against material.

She snatched up the hat and dashed up into the treehouse before Ace could see it, leaving the boy blinking at the space she'd occupied.

"Shishishi! Locks is funny!" Luffy said cheerfully.


	34. Chapter 34

For the next couple of days (after Locks had finished it by sitting outside in the middle of the night) the hat sat hidden in a corner behind Locks' own tricorne (a gift Dadan and the bandits had given her while drunk at Christmas).

 **oOo**

While Ace had expressed curiosity about the orange object he could see behind the tricorne, he didn't dare investigate. The last time someone (Luffy) had touched Locks' stuff, they'd gone without dinner. In fact, Locks was probably the only person who'd ever come between both the brothers and food and succeeded with all their limbs intact.

Keeping Ace away from food was one thing, but _Luffy_ as well? That was on a whole other, _terrifying_ , level. To this day, Ace still didn't know how the treehouse remained intact. He shuddered at the memory.

 **oOo**

Before dawn . . .

Ace snuck out of the treehouse. Luffy didn't stir, which was the important part, and Locks merely yawned at him before settling back to sleep.

It would take Ace a couple of hours to walk slowly to Fuchsia. He was planning on spending the day there, since most people didn't know him and Makino didn't know just how much today's date sucked for him.

Luffy wouldn't mind too much . . . would he? Locks, on the other hand . . . he was _dead_ if Luffy told her that today was his birthday. Ace cringed, and resolved not to think about it.

 **oOo**

Dawn . . .

"Wake up . . . _Lo~ocks_ , wake up!" Luffy whined. The dragon opened an eye, the rainbow colours seeming to swirl around and around . . .

Luffy shook his head. "Where's Ace?" he asked. The dragon slowly rose into a crouch. In a dull flash of light, Locks had changed into her half-form, wings opening themselves to their fullest extent as she stretched. Luffy ducked under them, eyeing Locks' tail warily. The clubbed end thumped on the ground softly and repeatedly, for no discernible reason, before Locks curled the appendage around so that the end sat in her lap.

The girl blinked the sleep from her eyes, and finally, she shrugged in answer to Luffy's question. The boy looked disappointed.

"Aw . . . but I wanted to give him his present . . ." he whined. His companion tilted her head at an angle in silent curiosity. Luffy continued to whine, "It's his birthday today . . . this sucks."

Locks blinked.

"I thought today was New Year's Day?" she said. At least, that's Makino had told her today was when they'd visited yesterday. On the way back, they'd found the bandits wandering around drunk throwing socks at each other. They'd been shouting "And a Happy New Sock to you too!"

Locks had resolved never to drink alcohol.

Luffy was saying something.

" . . . give him his present tonight! He can't stay away forever! Come on, Locks, we're going to decorate the treehouse!"

Next thing Locks knew, she was plummeting towards the ground after Luffy threw her out of the treehouse. Thankfully, being in her half-form, she could use her wings as parachutes. She summoned wind in a great upwards current to slow her fall. Despite it being on her second tier, her wind power was quite strong. Once she landed, she used the wind to blow Luffy away as punishment for throwing her outside as he jumped out of the treehouse.

She started ambling in the direction he'd flown in. After all, if he got eaten by crocodiles, _someone_ had to fetch the body.

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 _ **Read somewhere that Ace's birthday was New Year's Day.  
**_

 _ **Locks got a hat from the bandits in a short scene in Chapter 12 of Locks Christmas, a special for this story.**_


	35. Chapter 35

The sun was going down, so Ace had finally decided to head back after a day skulking around Fuchsia.

Under the impression that he had gotten into another fight with his siblings, Makino had kicked him out of the bar again soon after he had arrived. He'd spent his time since then wandering around the outskirts of the village looking at nothing in particular.

He sighed in the dim light of the setting sun, and set off slowly dawdling back.

 **oOo**

What in the Blues?

Ace stopped and stared around at the clearing. Strings of glowing leaves (Locks probably had a hand in that) were wound around and around, lighting up the area with a soft yellow light. Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned to see Locks watching him with an unimpressed expression. Before he could defend himself, she had already walked up and flicked him in the forehead.

"Luffy says I'm not allowed to be mad at you on your birthday." She said, then smiled sweetly. "Tomorrow, we do training, yes?"

Something told Ace that it would be wise to agree. He nodded his head furiously.

"Good." Locks said. "Now you get present . . . and you are going to _like_ present. Understand?"

He nodded furiously again.

"Good." Locks said again. "Wait here."

 **oOo**

Soon, she came back with Luffy in tow, the younger boy giggling maniacally holding something behind his back.

 _Made a wrong turn, once or twice_

 _Dug my way out, blood and fire_

 _Bad decisions, that's alright_

 _Welcome to my silly life_

"Ta-da!" Luffy said, shoving an extremely _orange_ object in Ace's face with a blinding grin. Ace took the object gingerly (you could never be too careful), turning it over and over in his hands. Locks, impatient, snatched it out of his hands and jammed it on his head so that it covered his eyes.

 _Mistreated, misplaced, misunderstood  
_

Ace pulled the brim of his new orange cowboy hat so that he could see, in time to see Locks gesture around at the clearing with her tongue sticking out of her mouth. All the strings of glowing leaves suddenly glowed brighter, lighting up the dark as the sun finally slipped below the horizon.

 _Mistaken, always second guessing  
_

 _Underestimated, look I'm still around_

"Show him the flame thing!" Luffy said, looking excited. It made Ace wonder what they'd been up to all day-

Locks kissed the palm of her hand and blew. Small fiery balls suddenly shot out of her finger tips, only to then glide gently around the clearing at random. Most of them were orange, but a few were yellow or green.

 _Pretty, pretty please  
_

 _Don't you ever, ever feel  
_

 _Like you're less than  
_

 _Less than perfect_

 _Pretty, pretty please  
_

 _If you ever, ever feel  
_

 _Like you're nothing  
_

 _Less than perfect_

Locks smiled, eyeing her creations.

"Fireflies." She said simply, sounding pleased.

 _You're so mean  
_

 _When you talk  
_

 _About yourself, you were wrong  
_

 _Change the voices in your head_

 _Make them like you instead  
_

Ace looked at the wandering spheres in awe.

"Fireflies?" he breathed. Locks grinned.

"They light up the dark." She said, "Just like you."

 _So complicated  
_

 _Look how we all make it  
_

 _Filled with so much hatred  
_

 _Such a tired game_

"Like me?" Ace said, confused.

"You are like light in night, for Luffy 'specially. Even if you not realise it." Locks replied, still watching the fiery orbs.

 _Oh_

 _Pretty, pretty please  
_

 _Don't you ever, ever feel  
_

 _Like you're less than  
_

 _Fucking perfect_

"Smile!" Luffy said. He poked his fingers in the corners of Ace's mouth and stretched it into a grimace. Locks whacked the rubber boy in the back of the head, causing Luffy to pout at her and whine.

Ace couldn't help but smile, surrounded by light here with his family. He brought his hands up to touch the brim of his new hat.

 _Pretty, pretty please  
_

 _If you ever, ever feel  
_

 _Like you're nothing  
_

 _You're fucking perfect to me_

Ace liked his present.

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 _ **The lyrics are from '**_ **Fucking Perfect'** _ **by**_ **P!nk** _ **.**_


	36. Chapter 36

Locks had taken to wandering the island muttering to herself. She would wander around an area for a little while, make a mark on a tree, and then go wander somewhere else.

Ace was a little worried by this behaviour. So, he asked her what she was doing.

"Wyvern hunting." She replied.

"And a wyvern is?" he said questioningly . . .

 **oOo**

Wyverns were distant cousins to dragons, like chimps are distant cousins to humans.

Wyverns came in all sizes, and for the most part resembled small dragons, the only differences being their front legs were shorter and were used like hands for the most part, and their horns, if they had any, were curved. Oh, and they didn't have clubbed tails.

The smallest types of wyvern in order were apparently Spectral/Summoner, Black Arts/Illusion, and Flame types. The largest were Wave or Earth types.

There were other types too, but Locks wasn't really interested in them, apparently. She was looking for the small ones, and had only mentioned the biggest ones because Ace asked.

Why was Locks looking for wyverns? Because Luffy had found a wyvern skull. While Luffy had found this skull in the trash mountains of Grey Terminal, Locks was still curious as to whether there were any signs of live wyverns on Dawn Island.

 **oOo**

Because he'd asked, Ace had now been roped into wyvern-hunting.

He still had bruises from the brutal training session Locks had given him a week ago, making his body ache a little as time went on as they walked.

Out of one hundred fights (in which Locks had refrained from using her powers), he had won 62 times. Locks had won 37 times, and Luffy had won one of the fights by suddenly tackling both Ace and Locks to the ground. When Ace cried foul, Locks had told him placidly that he needed to learn how to fight multiple opponents. Then she'd whacked him upside the head, tripped him up, and pronounced herself the winner of the hundredth match, much to Luffy's amusement.

Since Locks had been holding up a menacingly crackling fist, Ace had chased Luffy around the clearing instead of starting another fight with her.

While he may have won the majority of the fights, Ace knew that he had a lot of work to do. Fighting Locks was different from fighting his little brother, and she was hard to pin down. And even when he did bring her down (making him the winner), she was literally back on her feet before he could blink. She didn't shout out attack names either, so Ace had less of an idea of what to expect than when he was fighting Luffy.

Ace felt sorry for her future opponents. Just when they thought they'd won, she'd be right back in their face, and unlike these training sessions, she wouldn't be holding back her power. She would also be taller and heavier (presumably), so it would take more work to bring her down in the first place.

Ace grinned to himself. Training was fun.

 **oOo**

Locks glanced at Ace suspiciously.

"What are you smiling about? She asked. Ace just grinned at her. She edged away from him, making a cross on a nearby tree.

"We search new area now." She declared.

 **oOo**

Luffy was bored. A bored Luffy is a hazard to everyone around him, as there is no telling what he might come up with to amuse himself.

 **Lightbulb!**

Oh dear. The clouds just gave him an idea.


	37. Chapter 37

"What in the Blues!" Makino exclaimed, as three _very_ scruffy children walked into her bar.

There were bags under Locks' eyes, and Ace was wearing a scowl. All manner of twigs and leaves (and were those berries?) were stuck in their hair. A very large caterpillar was crawling down Locks' shirt, which itself looked as if it had been through _unspeakable_ things. It was also way too big for her, the sleeves reaching past her elbows while the hem was past her knees. Makino had a sneaking suspicion that the young dragon was no longer in possession of pants.

Come to think of it, Ace was wearing the same kind of shirt (minus the caterpillar). He and his sister (at least, that's how Makino thought of Locks) were also covered in scratches, their skin smeared with things Makino was sure she didn't want to know the name of.

Behind them, Luffy dripped quietly on the floor, holding his hat in his hands. There was a frog sitting on a large bump on the side of his head. Pondweed hung off of the bump on the other side of his head. Presumably, Ace and Locks were the cause of the lumps.

Luffy's shirt was ripped (he was in possession of his own clothes, including pants). A lily pad was perched on his shoulder somehow. A small snake was wrapped around the boy's middle.

In his hat, a fluffy baby bird was chirping.

"Like my duckling?" Luffy asked the bartender with a grin.

Makino stared.

"Goodness." She muttered.

 **oOo**

When they were all cleaned and patched up and wearing clothes that fit them, the frog and snake thrown violently out the window and various vegetation dumped in a bucket with the caterpillar, and the 'duckling' settled in a nest of rags, Makino made them all sit down at the bar.

She inspected them carefully for anything she might have missed. Satisfied with her work, she piled the day's leftovers on plates and watched the three children devour them. When they were done, she finally dared to ask the question that had been bugging her.

"Would the three of you mind telling me what's been going on?"

Ace and Locks glared at Luffy.

"I see." Makino said patiently. "So, what did he do?"

She shouldn't have asked.

 **oOo**

Luffy was bored. Locks and Ace were off doing who-knew-what, leaving the rubber-boy to his own devices, an oversight on their part.

Luffy looked up and saw a cloud that reminded him of Dadan's hair. He grinned, and decided to go play with the bandits.

 **oOo**

On his way to the hide-out, Luffy came across a duck. Some smaller ducks followed the first duck in a line. Luffy grinned. He wanted to play follow-the-leader too!

So off he went, following the last duck in line into the underbrush.

 **oOo**

Somehow, the duck turned into a rock that Luffy was chasing downhill. He tripped and started tumbling down-

 _ **Whump!**_

-crashing into Ace, so that they were both tumbling down-

 _ **Whump!**_

And then they both crashed into a startled-looking Locks, so that they were _all_ tumbling down. Luffy somehow ended up in the middle, Ace and Locks rolling over and over around him, so that he hit the bottom more or less unscathed.

With groans, Ace and Locks climbed stiffly to their feet to stare at Luffy.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Ace said in surprise. Luffy grinned.

Locks made a hmm sound, inspecting the ragged edge where one of her sleeves used to be. Then she started trooping up the hill again like nothing had happened. Ace and Luffy followed for lack of anything else to do.

But it didn't end there. Oh no.


	38. Chapter 38

"Ace?" Luffy said.

"Mm?"

"What are we looking for?"

"Wyverns." Ace replied.

"Why?"

"Because Locks is looking for them."

"Why are we following her?"

"Because we can."

"Oh. Then I'm going to do something else."

With that, Luffy wandered off to find something else to do, leaving his older brother to trudge behind a seemingly indefatigable dragon. Luffy was tired of walking along boringly.

 **oOo**

Ace had decided to look on this as a training exercise. After all, walking was good for fitness, like training, right? And walking wasn't nearly as painful as sparring, so, win-win.

Having walked around this hill several times, Locks scorched a large boulder until the surface turned black. Ace watched in fascination, thinking about how awesome it would be to control fire.

 **oOo**

Luffy now found himself wandering merrily through the jungle once again. That is, until he wandered into monkey territory . . .

"Aaaaah!" he screamed, running away.

"Raaaah!" the monkeys screamed, chasing after him.

Did I mention that he woke up the wolves from their naps?

"Awoooooooo!" the wolves howled as they took up the chase. Luffy ran faster.

 **oOo**

"Do you hear that?" Locks asked curiously, stopping to look back at Ace.

"Hear what?" the boy said blankly.

 _Aaah . . ._ Locks heard coming from a distance.

"That." she said. Ace shook his head, clearly not hearing what she heard-

"AAAAAAH!"

Locks looked up just as Luffy fell down on top of Ace. An ominous crack was heard, and the ground randomly gave way beneath the boys.

Locks peered into the hole that hadn't been there two seconds ago.

"That's new . . ." she muttered. Realising that the boys were probably stuck, and that she couldn't really just leave, she changed into her half-form and jumped in, summoning a strong updraft to fill her wings and slow her fall.

 **oOo**

It was dark, so Locks waggled her fingers and concentrated, until several glowing spheres lit up the space.

She took a good look into the shadows they cast, eyes alighting on two very dusty boys and the darkness falling away behind them. She blinked, noting that Ace had lost most of his shirt during the fall. Both of the boys groaned as the light fell on them, blinking wearily in confusion. Locks sighed.

If she summoned water to dash in their faces, would they come around faster?

 **oOo**

Eventually the boys came around, and they all trooped down the mystery tunnel together. Yes, mystery tunnel. Luffy had dragged them down it rather than return to the surface. So far, they'd fallen off the edge of the ground three times, as the tunnel floor abruptly dropped away.

Luffy was having the time of his life. His siblings? Not so much. Ace had lost his shirt entirely (giving Locks an odd feeling of premonition), and Locks now had a sleeveless shirt that showed off her belly button.

Luffy's clothes were magically still in one piece, of course. Ace and Locks eyed him mutinously.


	39. Chapter 39

**Tsukino _: Depends what you mean by the question. I have a rough idea of how I want to write the sequel, which will feature the three all grown up. Just not all together. I'm not going to put them all on the same crew if that's what you're asking._**

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

"Aaaah!"

The all too familiar sound of screaming echoed through the air as Luffy decided that it would be a _great_ idea to grab both of his siblings and hurl himself towards the light at the end of the tunnel . . . and out 100 feet above a river.

"We're all gonna die!" Luffy shrieked gleefully.

"I'm gonna kill you!" Ace shrieked in panic.

Locks on the other hand, just sighed and thought _Here we go again . . ._

You see, this is not the first time Luffy had gotten them into this kind of situation. At least this time, there weren't any snakes.

 _ **Kersplash! Plop!**_

With that, they hit the water.

 **oOo**

It was like a roller coaster. An angry, hungry roller coaster.

Within seconds of landing in the fast flowing river, Ace had caught hold of a log and heaved his hammer-brother on top of it, before climbing up himself and grabbing hold of Luffy again. Too late, he realised that the 'log' was actually an alligator.

So, he was screaming at the top of his lungs while the lizard thrashed its head around and tried to throw them off into the water. His eyes were wide, fixed on the sight of the alligator's gnashing teeth.

Locks, on the other hand, had changed into her half-form just before hitting the water and was floating on her back, her wings stabilising her somewhat due to their size and shape when opened. She had her eyes half-closed, focusing on her wave power, sensing when rocks were ahead by the way the water moved and using her tail as a rudder to steer her around them. She waved to Ace as she passed by, not at all concerned at his proximity to a pair of snapping jaws.

In response to her waving, Ace mouthed "Help me."

She grinned, and closed her wings, sinking rapidly to disappear beneath the water's surface.

 **oOo**

Ace watched in horror as Locks disappeared, apparently leaving him to the alligator's tenderizing mercies. He gulped.

"Gahror!"

Ace nearly fell off the alligator of his own accord in surprise at the sudden strange sound it made. He heard Luffy mumble something about tails . . .

So he turned his head to look behind them.

Locks had bitten into the alligator's tail. She opened her jaws and spat out the blood.

"Ugh." She said, "Alligator blood tastes _disgusting_."

She spat said blood out of her mouth. Ace sweat-dropped. _Sharp teeth_ . . . he thought. But the alligator had become strangely quiet now, no longer trying to maim its passengers. Ace looked at its head, and realised that it was eyeing Locks in fear. The dragon girl grinned at it, and it gulped.

 **oOo**

Eventually the river flowed into a lake. The alligator promptly tossed its passengers overboard and swam away as quick as it could. Ace swam towards shore, carrying Luffy. Locks had vanished somewhere along the way in a set of rapids that had almost killed their trusty alligator earlier.

Ace dumped Luffy out of the water. Within a few seconds, the boy was back to his bouncy self.

Ace looked around, just in case. "Where's Locks?" he asked the empty air.

"Over here." Came the immediately reply. Ace jumped, then turned to see a large rock. Upon closer inspection, there was a head poking out over the top of it.

"Why are you hiding behind a rock?" Ace asked the obvious question.

"The same reason you should look down." Locks said with a blank expression.

Ace looked down. Somewhere along the way, he had lost his pants.


	40. Chapter 40

Ace had stalked off blushing and stuttering into the woods, followed by Luffy, intent on finding something to wear despite the fact that they were both in the middle of the jungle.

After waiting a little while to make sure they were gone, Locks had decided to head towards the bandit hideout. She could smell it from here, so it had to be close by, or at least closer than the treehouse, and she could borrow one of the bandit's shirts. So off she went, following the smell of cheap booze, dust and unwashed bodies.

The hideout _was_ about due for a cleanout, she mused . . .

 **oOo**

"Yeah! We're finally here!" Luffy said cheerfully after a few seconds. Ace gave him an odd look, since there was nothing particularly exciting going on, before sighing and rolling his eyes, pinning the younger boy's outburst to his inherent Luffy-ness.

They were standing in front of the hide-out, the rickety-looking wooden house looming over them. Ace had got some very large leaves to cover himself with along the way, and he could sense beady eyes watching him.

"Buzz off, you stupid old bird."

With a squawk of indignation, said bird flew off in a huff.

Nodding in determination, Ace said "Luffy, knock on the door."

 **oOo**

Wriggling her way through a gap between loose boards, Locks heard a knocking sound coming from the front of the hideout. She was at the back.

She was sneaking in so that the bandits wouldn't have a chance to set up their exorcism ritual before she got inside.

Fighting the urge to cough from all the dust she'd stirred up, Locks peered around the small space she'd ended up in.

It was the cupboard where all the brooms and mops were kept . . .

 **oOo**

Dadan peered through the crack as she inched the door out of its slot. Then she threw it all the way open.

"It's you." She grumbled, looking distinctly unimpressed . . . and a little wary. "Where's the other one?" the bandit asked.

The boys shrugged. Then Ace asked, as politely as he could, "Would you have any clothes I could borrow?"

She looked him up and down suspiciously.

"Why?" she asked.

To be fair, Ace thought, he had given himself a bit of a reputation, so her wariness wasn't completely unwarranted.

But it should have been pretty obvious by the way he held the leaves.

"I need clothes." He said with exaggerated patience.

 **oOo**

Dogra had lost something. He couldn't remember what it was, since he'd been drunk at the time, but he had the distinct feeling that he was missing something. So, he was looking for it, of course. He'd know it when he saw it.

He sneezed. The hideout was getting kind of dusty . . . he opened up the cupboard where they kept their mostly unused cleaning supplies.

 **oOo**

Locks blinked as light fell into her space. She sniffed the air, eyeing her target. He didn't smell that much, and the shirt he was wearing didn't look too stained . . .

Using a bucket for modesty (both Ace and Makino had made it clear that modesty was very important for young females) she brandished a broom and commanded "Give me your shirt."

 **oOo**

Dadan jumped violently as screams came from somewhere behind her.

"The demon! The demon has teleportation powers!

"Begone, gone to that from whence you came!"

"We will never surrender!"

"She's found the soap! Run for your lives!"

All this drama over one little dragon. Really.

Dadan turned white, but before she could say anything, a flood of bubbles knocked her out of the doorway.

Ace and Luffy took several steps back. From within the foam emerged a pile of laundry. It promptly hit the ground, and Locks came out from behind it, wearing what looked like a very odd dress.

"Really." She said crossly, "I just wanted borrow the shirt."

Ace wisely kept his mouth shut, and got a shirt for himself out of the pile.


	41. Chapter 41

Luffy had had a great day, and the sun was still in the sky . . . Makino! He could go visit Makino!

And off he went. Ace and Locks were quick to follow, having finally learnt over the course of the day that Luffy on his own meant trouble. They eyed the rubber boy with paranoia.

 **oOo**

Of course, their paranoia soon turned out to be completely reasonable when Luffy tripped over a tree root and went tumbling down a slight incline, rubber arms reaching back to snare his siblings.

He fell into a pond and got eaten by an anaconda.

Ace ended upside down against a tree.

Locks head-butted a sapling, and a caterpillar fell out and onto her head.

 **oOo**

After the anaconda spat out its unappetising meal into the pond, both Locks and Ace made an attempt to strangle the little idiot. Eventually, they all started trudging in the direction of Fuchsia, ignoring Luffy's new pets as they did.

Not like they could hurt him anyway. He was basically indestructible.

 **oOo**

"And that is what happened." Locks finished, with a sideways suspicious glance at her little brother.

"Zzzzz." Ace supplied helpfully, having succumbed to narcolepsy.

"I see." Makino said, watching them all with fond amusement. She chuckled quietly under her breath as the young dragon was taken over by exhaustion, head slowly drooping forward to rest on the table as she fell asleep.

Luffy immediately plucked a pair of markers out of thin air and started scribbling on his sibling's faces. Started, but never finished, since he too was worn out from the day's events.

One by one, Makino carried them each to a spare room to sleep in peace . . .

 **oOo**

 **oOo**

 _ **Smash!**_

The next morning, an enormous hole appeared in one of the walls of Makino's bar.

"Good morning!" A certain vice-admiral bellowed, "Any sake 'round here?!"

Makino thumped down the stairs with an angry expression on her face, which looked positively murderous when she realised the damage done to her livelihood. She fearlessly stared down the marine hero and asked, in a quietly dangerous voice, "Garp? Is there a reason you can't use the door."

The marine picked his nose nonchalantly.

"Nah, it's just cooler not to." He replied simply.

Makino got shark teeth.

" _Not at 5 o'clock in the morning it isn't!_ "

 **oOo**

Upstairs . . .

While Makino was chewing out the admiral, the three children were awake and gathered together plotting escape plans. In other words, Luffy was having lots of terrible ideas and his siblings were shooting him down each time.

Finally, Ace could take no more.

"Locks, you distract gramps while Luffy and I escape."

"Good idea!" Luffy grinned.

Locks looked distinctly unimpressed.

"Why do I have to side-track crazy seagull?"

"Because." The boys replied.

"Because why?"

"Why not?" the boys said in unison.

"I don't want to get hit with lovey-dovey doom fist."

"Too bad. See you on the other side!"

Before Locks could protest further, Ace had grabbed Luffy and jumped out the nearest window.

Vowing revenge, the dragon trooped downstairs and out the front door.

 **oOo**

By now, Makino had kicked Garp outside with some planks, a hammer, and a bucket of nails. The vice-admiral was pouting as he worked on the wall.

"Still hasn't given me my sake." He grumbled.

Faintly, he heard footsteps tip-toeing somewhere behind him. Curiously, he turned to see . . .

Sneaking away, Ace and Luffy.

Hole in the wall forgotten, he jumped to his feet.

"Where do you think you're going?" he said, smiling evilly at his grandsons. Before he could take a step however-

 _ **ZAP!**_

Vice-Admiral Garp the Fist leapt sky-high with a bellow, his hair poofing out in an afro that did not suit him in the slightest.

"Hi, old man." Locks said casually, trying not to shiver in fear as he turned towards her.

Ace and Luffy were going to owe her _**big**_ time.


	42. Chapter 42

_Hi, Ainums, :)_

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

It wasn't the last time she was treated to Garp's training, the same thing happening multiple times as the years passed by. Locks made her brothers pay for her bruises by pounding them into the ground when caught up with them next, by fair means or foul.

Over time, there were several . . . misunderstandings that occurred between her and the boys . . . among other people.

 **oOo**

When Locks was thirteen/fourteen and most of the other girls on the island her age were going through puberty, Luffy asked an . . . interesting question while they were in town being disreputable.

"Locks?"

"Hm?"

"Why don't you have boobs?"

Staring at his innocent expression and seeing a red-faced Ace with steam coming out of his ears, Locks answered simply, "Because I 'm a dragon. Dragons are lizards, not mammals."

She then turned the rubber boy around to face his brother's wrath. Ignoring angry shouts of "you can't ask girls that!" and whiny "why not?" 's, Locks continued to pick pockets while her brothers made a spectacle of themselves.

When the guards tried to arrest them, she dragged them away by their ears and ran out of town, cries of "ow ow ow!" following her.

 **oOo**

She had to beat it into Luffy's skull that threatening people that "his sister would set them on fire" if they didn't give him what he wanted was _not_ acceptable behaviour. (That's why when Ace threatened thugs that "his sister would tear them limb from limb and spill their guts for her demonic rituals", he made sure to do it when she wasn't around to hear him.

It was surprisingly easy to convince people that she would do those things . . . though that may have something to do with Dadan and the bandits muttering to themselves and starting rumours.)

 **oOo**

Locks wasn't very happy when Dogra's drunken tale about her swamping the house with bubbles (again) turned into an apocalypse story of her sinking the Goa Kingdom beneath the waves. To express her displeasure, she got Makino to help her make bread shaped like Dogra's head and shoulders, which she then carted up to the bandit hideout so she could cut off its head in front of the unfortunate man. Needless to say, he got the message.

 **oOo**

She wasn't entirely sure how it happened, but somehow her brother both fell into a vat of blue dye. From then until when the dye wore off, they insisted on wearing white clothing and saying "smurfy" every other word. Believing that the chemicals had rendered them delusional, Locks electrocuted both of them, with buckets of salt water dumped over Luffy for good measure.

The two declared her to be an evil witch and made plans to "smurf off her head". She was not impressed.

After they finally regained their senses, Locks demanded to know what on earth had been wrong with them. She was bombarded with mushrooms for the trouble.

 **oOo**

Then there was that most memorable Halloween night, when Ace and Luffy got banged up more than usual fighting over the candy. After hauling both them and their loot back to the treehouse, Locks went to fetch a first aid kit from Dadan's.

All the windows and doors were locked, and gaps in the building's boards covered up. She looked up, checking to see if smoke was coming down the chimney . . .

Inside the house in the main room, Dadan was telling a horror story.

" . . . and with a clatter and clack, and curses to the coal, the creature climbed slowly, slowly down the chimney. With blackened face and blazing eyes, it searched the room for victims, thirsty for their blood. Taking the form of a snake, it slithered through the house towards the bedrooms-"

 _ **Clatter! Clack!**_

Dadan paused, looking around crossly for the source of the interruption, but all her men were watching her with rapt, fearful attention. Shrugging it off, she continued.

"- and its scales hissed as it passed. At last it came to the prize-"

"#$%&#!"

Curses echoed through the room. This time, everyone froze.

"%^&*$%!"

They all listened, wide-eyed, as a slithering sound came from the chimney. They all slowly turned to face the fireplace.

 _ **Whush!**_

A cloud of soot fell down. When it cleared-

A blackened face with blazing eyes glared around the room.

Locks blinked soot out of her reddened eyes, just in time to see each and every bandit fall into a dead faint.

 **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 _ **I don't own the Smurfs.**_


	43. Chapter 43

And of course there were the madcap schemes Ace cooked up in order to prank as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time.

For example, when he paid all the kids in Fuchsia village to steal every shoe they could find. He poured orange paint over the pile, and then paid the same kids to return the shoes at random. No one was particularly pleased to find that their shoes had 'mysteriously' turned orange and no longer fit them.

There was the time he put itching powder in the bandits washing. The time he released pigs in the hideout to cause chaos when Dadan said she wanted some pork.

Somewhat suicidally, he snuck on board Garp's ship while his siblings kept the man occupied and added orange dye to their fresh water supply. He didn't do this once, but three times. Locks threatened to electrocute him the third time when he nearly got caught, so he resorted to spraying the vice-admiral himself with the dye.

The dye was mixed in with pepper spray.

He didn't sit down for a week.

 **oOo**

Luffy seemed to be magnetic. It was as if every animal in the forest capable of swallowing him was intent on tracking him down and doing just that.

Garp showing up at random and rattling what brain cells the rubber boy had didn't help matters in the slightest.

This led Locks to ask some very valid questions, such as "Where did you find a giant exploding squirrel?" and "Do you have a death wish?"

Also, "Why do you want to sling shot yourself off a cliff?"

The answers to these questions were "In a cave." "Can I eat that?" and "To fly."

When Locks told Luffy that he couldn't fly, he replied "Why not? You can."

 **oOo**

You know the saying, 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em?

Locks' version was 'if you can't beat sense into them, make sure they don't kill themselves.'

Over the years, she had resigned herself to the fact that there was no escaping the madcap, occasionally life-threatening adventures, especially when Luffy was involved.

 **oOo**

"Tiiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmbeeeeeerrrrrrr!"

Without a thought, Locks changed into her half-form, summoned a gust of wind, and flew straight up above the forest canopy. Trees can't fall on you if you're above them after all.

She then went hunting down whichever of her lunatic brothers had decided to play lumberjack, following the sound of maniacal giggles.

 **oOo**

"I'm really sorry, Dadan, I won't do it again, I promise!" Ace said with faux tears in his eyes. "I didn't mean to, really!"

Then he grabbed Locks (who'd been cleaning again) and ran off as fast as he could.

The bandits didn't sleep for a week, trying to figure out whatever it was that the demon children had done.

The answer? Nothing. Ace was just messing with them.

 **oOo**

"What are you doing?" Locks asked, looking ready to bolt at any moment. She didn't want to get implicated in whatever crime Luffy was commiting.

"Playing hospital." Luffy replied with a blank face. He was wrapping his narcoleptic brother in toilet paper.

"Riiiight. I'm going hunting." Locks said, and she slowly backed away from the beatdown Ace would inevitably dish out when he woke up.


	44. Chapter 44

It was time. The day had come.

Makino insisted on taking a picture of him and his siblings before he left.

It started out tame enough, the three of them standing together with arms around each other's shoulders.

 _ **Click!**_

Then Luffy stretched his arms and wrapped them tight around the other's waists.

 _ **Click!**_

Locks objected to suddenly being squished against the other, changing into her half form, tail swinging, wings swishing as she bared her pointed fangs.

 _ **Click!**_

When's Luffy's response was to pull the other's even closer, causing Ace to yelp at the constricting rubber grip, Locks took more drastic measures and went full dragon-

 _ **Click!**_

\- electrocuting both her brothers before trying to set Luffy on fire to get him to let go.

 _ **Click!**_

Makino thought the whole thing was hilarious. Locks huffed crossly at her, still wrestling with Luffy's grip, and Ace smiled fondly at his siblings as he stepped out of their immediate range, patting his hair down from where the lightning had made it stand on end.

 _ **Click!**_

Makino finally put her camera away, laughing at all of them.

 **oOo**

Makino got the pictures printed in record time. She handed one of them off to Locks, who started scribbling on the back of it. Ace drew the dragon aside while Makino distracted Luffy with food.

"Take care of him for me. Please?" he asked, wanting to make sure his idiot little brother would be safe, "Stay with him, set sail with him, make sure he finds a good crew."

Locks looked at him incredulously.

"You want me to stay? For three years? With _Luffy_? By myself?"

Ace nodded.

"You want me to sail with him?"

Ace nodded again.

Locks eyed him for a long time. Finally, she held up a finger.

"One condition. He finds good crew, I leave and make own crew. I am _not_ having _Luffy_ as my captain for rest of life."

Both she and Ace shuddered at the thought of such a thing.

"Agreed." Ace said. Locks sighed with a doomed expression.

 **oOo**

Even Dadan was there, though she was watching them all with a wary expression. She stood slightly behind Makino, as if the bartender was a human shield against 'the demon brats', as the bandits had dubbed the siblings.

"Is she going with him?" the bandit leader asked her green-haired companion, gesturing at Locks and crossing her fingers in hope that the answer was 'yes'.

Makino just smiled, watching the three teens ready Ace's boat for his departure.

 **oOo**

As Ace was about to jump aboard, Locks pressed the photo Makino had given her into his hand.

"Live a life of no regrets, yes?" she said, recalling him muttering something along those lines before. Her older brother beamed at her.

"I will." He promised. She smiled in return.

"Good. But if you forget, look at back of picture to remind you, okay?" she said seriously, before stepping back.

"Okay." He said, tucking the picture (which was the second one Makino had taken) into the pocket of his shorts.

Satisfied, Locks went to stand beside Luffy.

 **oOo**

 _Know there's a ticket with my name on it  
Know there's a ship* leaving any minute  
Know there's a past that is full of fear  
This ain't a chance that I can forfeit . . .  
_  
The little ship started to move away from shore, Ace working the sails to get out of the small bay.

 _Spend a lotta time thinking about the situation I'm in  
Get it once in every while but I never really make sense of it  
Should've ink the lyric down, like the figure 8 on my wrist  
One day I'll figure it out then drill it into my head . . .  
_  
Moving past the sandy arms of the beach, Ace turned back towards shore. Seeing him do so, his sibling started waving their arms like mad. He waved back, equally demented.

 _Moving on . . .  
_

" _ **I'll see you on the Grand Line!**_ " he bellowed.

 _Manning up . . .  
_

" _ **We'll hold you to that!**_ " Locks bellowed back.

" _ **See ya, Ace!**_ "

 _Man enough? . . .  
_

Ace grinned, and turned his head to the sky.

" _ **Look at me, Sabo!**_ " he yelled. He hadn't forgotten the blonde, not by a long shot. " _ **I'm setting sail, just we planned!**_ "

 _Moving on_ _. . ._

 _Spent 2 years cleaning up the mess that I made  
Still don't believe but I'll take the leap anyway  
I feel the nerves swirl around my body  
Take all I learned and hit the ground running  
_

He'd gather up a crew and go to the Grand Line. He'd make a name for himself, and watch for his little brother coming up the rear with his sister in tow.

 _Moving on  
Manning up  
Man enough?  
Moving on . . ._

He'd live a life with no regrets. _  
_ **ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo**

 _ **Lyrics from 'City' by Cieran McMeekan. Ship* is plane in original lyrics.**_

 _ **The end.**_

 _ **A sequel is coming. I'll put something up here to let people know when it's posted. It'll be a couple of weeks before I do, though.**_


	45. Chapter 45

_**Chapter 1 of sequel is now up.**_

 _ **Title is**_ **Locks: The Grand Line**

 _ **Hope you like!**_


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